Wild Horses
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: "I've watched you suffer a dull aching pain; and now you've decided to show me the same..." - Who's side do you take when it's a choice between two friends, and nobody wins anyway? Dark themes and most definately rated M
1. Chapter 1

**Alright-y then. New story time. **

**I must warn you now, in case you missed it in the summary, this has very dark themes. If you're looking for fluff, you've taken a wrong turn. **

**Also, as always with my stories, future chapters will be longer; this is just the warm up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or it's characters ... etc, etc**

**x x x x**

"Ah damn it." Nick huffed, slamming his hand onto the counter. "I can't get my head around this case."

"Alright, don't get your panties in a bunch." Warrick said dryly. "We still haven't gotten the results from Tox yet." As Nick continued to shake his head at the baffling evidence, Warrick slyly pulled out a small orange tube and shook out a sugar-coated pill. Nick glanced up just in time to see him pop it into his mouth and swallow it dry.

"You're still taking those things?" He questioned, attempting to sound blasé.

"These are different." Warrick sniffed. "I haven't been sleeping well so they're to help me stay awake." Nick scrutinised him closely.

"So, you're taking uppers and downers now?" He clarified. Warrick finally met his gaze, fixing the Texan with a cold stare.

"What's this got to do with you?" He asked coolly.

"Because I'm your friend." Nick blurted out, startled. "I care about you." Staring into Warrick's eyes he could see that they were not entirely focussed. "You need help."

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." Warrick bristled, going back to his work in a failed effort to end the conversation.

"You're fine?" Nick repeated. "Look at yourself Warrick! You're eyes are dilated, you haven't slept. You haven't showered, you're in the same clothes you were wearing yesterday!" He rattled off, becoming more and more irate as he went. "You're a mess!"

"What the hell gives you the right to tell me how to live?" Warrick snapped, slamming his hand on the bench.

"I'm not telling you how to live, man. I'm just telling you that you need help."

"I don't need help." Warrick denied. "And I don't need you or anyone else telling me what I should be doing!"

"You're playing with fire here, man." Nick warned, taking a step closer. "You don't sort yourself out soon, you're gonna lose your job."

"Fuck you Nick." Warrick spat, storming past him. When Nick, in a moment of bravery, stepped in front of him Warrick grabbed the Texan's arm and roughly threw him asside, never stopping in his motion towards the door.

Nick fell back against the wall, stunned by his best friend's actions.

"Hey Rick!" He hollered after the taller CSI, but Warrick never stopped and never looked back.

**x x x x**

**Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

**x x x x**

"I just don't get what's going on with him." Nick grumbled, rubbing his shoulder where Warrick had shoved him.

"He's working through some stuff." Catherine answered absently, scanning the extensive list of phone records before her.

"I'm telling you, he's losing it." The Texan continued, shaking his head in loss. Cath took her glasses off and fixed the young man with a curious look.

"I admit he has been unpredictable lately but … you don't really think it's a drug problem do you?"

"I don't know." Nick shrugged helplessly. "When it was just the anti-depressants I didn't think so but now, he's on sleeping pills and pep tablets. He's gonna overdose at this rate!" He was angry and exaggerating, but the possibility of his threat coming true scared him all the same.

"Maybe Grissom could talk to him." Cath suggested. "He seems to be able to get through to him better than anyone else."

"Yeah." Nick ran a hand through his usually neat hair, which today resembled Greg's more than his own. "Yeah, I guess. I just wish I knew what was going through his head."

"That's a dangerous wish to make, Nicky." Cath warned with a dry laugh. "Believe me, if it is drugs then you don't want to get inside his head right now."

X x x

By the end of the night tensions were still running high between the boys, a fact which was blatantly obvious to the rest of the team as they gathered their things at the end of shift. Fed up of the cold silence, Warrick attempted to break the ice.

"Phew, I need a drink." He said over-dramatically. "Who's in?"

"No." Nick mumbled with a sullen pout. "I'm going home. For sleep." He added pointedly.

"Nah, I've got to pick Lindsey up." Catherine excused herself, grabbing her purse and hurriedly striding to the door before he could twist her arm. "I'll see you guys tonight."

"Alright." Warrick nodded, turning his attention to the only other person; the one hiding quietly in the corner. She felt his eyes settle on her and practically climbed into her locker to avoid meeting his gaze. "Sara?"

"No, I'm good." She murmured, wishing to no end that she had a child to go collect from somewhere.

"Come on girl, you won't let me down, right?" He sidled up against her, a charming smile gracing his lips. All she could offer in response was a nervous laugh and a weak smile.

"I don't know Rick, I'm kinda tired." She tried again, to no avail.

"One drink." He bargained. "My tab." Sara could feel her resolve wavering just as well as she could feel Nick's eyes on her.

"Alright." She conceded as last. "One drink." She could almost hear Nick's disappointment from across the room. Casting a glance up, she saw her colleague shake his head at her before turning back to his locker.

On the plus side, she mused, at least this way she could keep an eye on him.

X x x

"I mean, what gives him the right to tell me what I can and can't do with my life?" Warrick slurred.

"I don't think that's what he was trying to do." Sara reasoned, to no avail. "He's just worried about you. To be honest, we all are." Warrick's expression softened and he threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her so close that she could practically taste the whiskey on his breath.

"Awe, you don't need to worry about me little sis." He assured her; although their current situation was not exactly convincing her of that. "Now, I need another drink." He attempted to stand up but stumbled and nearly fell onto her. She barely managed to guide him back onto the couch without being squashed.

"I think you've had enough." She commented, glancing wistfully at her own, untouched bottle of beer in front of her. "Should you even be drinking with those pills?" She added uncertainly.

"They're fine." He waved a hand, disregarding the question. "I don't know what's gotten up Nick's ass lately."

"You." Sara muttered under her breath. He turned to her with a lazy smile.

"You know something; you're the only one that gets me." He decided after scrutinising her for a moment. "You and I, we're not like them."

"No." She agreed dryly. "They were smart enough to go home."

"No, no. I'm serious." He continued in his drink and drug addled ramble. "You've always got me. I can talk to you because you've been there."

"I've never been where you are." She laughed awkwardly, fidgeting with the watch around her wrist. "Look, I need to get home. Come on, I'll drop you off." She tried to grip his arm but he shrugged her off.

"Oh, one more." He whined.

"Ah, no. It's time to go." She insisted, standing up. When Warrick didn't move, she tried a different tactic. "Tell you what, why don't we go back to your place and have one last drink there before I go home?"

The offer seemed to placate the drunkard and he hurled himself to his feet, wobbling for a moment before regaining his sense of balance and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Now you're talking sense." He agreed.

Of course, she had no intention of staying. But that was okay; judging by the amount of alcohol he'd consumed Warrick would be asleep before he hit the bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews so far guys,**

**KC x**

**x x x x**

"Evening guys." Grissom announced, surveying the room upon his arrival and immediately noting that one of his guys was missing. "Where's Sara?"

"Not in yet." Catherine answered, flicking absently through her magazine. Grissom frowned, looking at his watch pointedly.

"Maybe she's running late." Nick offered, although the words didn't sound quite right to his own ears. In all the years of working in Vegas, Sara had never once been late. When there was a long moment of uncomfortable silence, Cath took the hint and pulled out her cell.

"I'll call her."

"Good." Grissom nodded, turning back to the rest of his team. He scrutinised Nick and Warrick for a second; debating whether or not it would be safe to pair them together. There was still some residual tension from the previous shift but so far there had been no sparks. Deciding to risk it, he held out the manila folder. "Okay, guys you have a 419 off strip. Brass is meeting you there."

"I'll drive." Nick said, snatching the report from the boss' hand.

"Uh huh, not if we want to get there before sun-up." Warrick teased. Judging by Nick's stony expression, sleeping on it had not healed any wounds from the day before. Just as Gil was about to issue a warning, Catherine's panicked voice cut him off.

"Hey Grissom," She called, cutting through the mood. "She's not answering." Everyone turned to the concerned blonde. "I tried three times, went to voicemail every time."

X x x

"Maybe she's stuck in traffic." Greg suggested, having joined the group when he noticed the tumult.

"Nah, she'd have called someone to let them know." Nick disregarded the comment. "She could have crashed."

"I've called dispatch, there's been no accidents called in involving a car of her description in the last two hours." Cath answered. "They're still checking RTAs earlier in the day."

Nick nodded slowly, a thought striking him. He spun on his heel to face Warrick, who had dropped onto the couch with his head in his hands. "Hey Rick, didn't you and her go for a drink this morning?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." The dark-skinned man nodded, frowning.

"Well, was she okay when you left her?" Catherine asked, studying his puzzled face with concern. "Did she seem alright to you?"

"Yeah, I think so. Yeah, she was fine." He nodded, steadily becoming more sure of himself. Cath and Grissom exchanged a silent look of worry over his uncertain answers.

"Well, just to be sure I'm going to have Brass send a uniform to her apartment and put an APB out on her car." Gil said.

"Okay." Cath nodded, waving her phone at him. "I'll keep trying to get in touch with her just in case she finds her way back to her phone."

"Good." He nodded, turning to flick his gaze between the boys. "Greg, why don't you go with Nick to the scene instead?" He suggested after a long minute.

"Me?" Greg seemed as surprised by this as Warrick did.

"Yeah, it'll be good field experience for you."

"I want to help find Sara." Nick jumping in with a scowl.

"We'll call you as soon as we hear anything. Days can take over from there." Catherine promised, already heading towards the hall with Greg hot on her heels – he wasn't about to stick around long enough for Grissom to change his mind. Nick took a deep breath and sloped out after them, resigning himself to his job.

"What about me?" Rick piped up, hurt. Grissom gave the man a once over.

"You need to sober up." He commented at last, turning to leave. Warrick watched him go, dismayed. Running a hand through his springy hair, he released a heavy breath and kicked out at the coffee table angrily.

Sara must have been fine when he'd left her. He may not remember much from last night, but he'd remember that.

X x x

"I don't give a damn about the cost; I want a news bulletin and I want every officer called in. We're going to scour every street in Vegas if we have to." Brass barked into the phone as he stalked down the corridor. He spotted Ecklie coming towards him and nodded to get his attention. "I want her found. Now." On that definitive note he hung up and waited for the lab director to address him.

"What's the deal with the APB? Any results?"

"No, and the officer that attended her apartment found nothing untoward. It was secure and there was no sign of her or her car." The detective filled him in. "No one's seen her in over 15 hours now." Ecklie had never seen the stoic man so distressed, even if he was attempting to hide it behind anger.

"Keep trying. Let me know as soon as you get anything." He paused, gesturing to Brass' phone. "Was that the Sherriff?"

"Yeah." Jim growled, clearly not impressed by what he'd had to say. "He's not making it easy." Ecklie nodded, already guessing what the conversation had consisted of.

"I'll deal with it."

X x x

"_Criminalist Sara Sidle of the Las Vegas Crime Lab has been reported missing by police tonight."_ Catherine shook her head, trying to drown out the news reader's shrill voice as she sat with her back to the TV, checking through Sara's recent case files for any enemies she may have acquired. _"She was last seen by one of her colleagues early this morning and Police officers are currently searching for her car; it's a silver Toyota Prius…_

"Hey," Wendy's voice startled her out of her thoughts. "Any word on Sara yet?"

"No." Cath sulked, staring at her phone's black screen with desperation. "Brass is still trying to get hold of her landlord to see if she even made it home last night." Wendy nodded, taking a deep, calming breath. She never had been very good at controlling her emotions during times like this, but right now Catherine looked like she was on the verge of tears and Wendy guessed that her falling apart would not help the strawberry-blonde much.

So instead, she settled for placing a caring hand on the CSI's shoulder. To her surprise, the normally unshakable CSI responded by gripping her hand tightly, clinging onto the support.

X x x

Sofia spotted the car from fifty feet away. She narrowed her eyes against the setting sun, speeding towards the vehicle left forsaken by the side of the desert road.

She had heard the APB and recognised the licence plate before they'd even mentioned the owner's name. It was true, Sara and her and never been close but she didn't let that stop her from abandoning her morning jobs to scour the streets in search of the car.

Swerving in behind it she realised that she could see the silhouette of someone in the driver's seat. Holstering her weapon – just in case – she climbed out and stalked towards the front.

As she got past the glare of the sun, she could clearly make out the driver.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she placed her weapon back in its holster and rapped on the window, scaring the life out of the brunette. She saw Sara's eyes scanning her face for a moment before finally deciding it was safe to unlock the doors.

Sofia opened the passenger door and climbed in, mentally documenting all the injuries that she could already see. Whatever had happened, Sara had taken a fair beating.

"Are you okay?" It seemed like a stupid question but it was the first thing that came to her mind. Sara didn't answer, just resumed staring straight ahead out of the window, so Sofia continued. "Everyone's worried about you. We've been trying to reach you all night."

"I know." Sara mumbled, gesturing to her phone that lay discarded on the dashboard. "I didn't know what to say."

Right now, Sofia found herself in a similar situation. She used the awkward moment that followed to take a closer look at Sara's injuries. She needed medical attention; that much was blatantly obvious.

"Come on." She said softly, reaching out a hand. "I'll take you somewhere safe." Sara stared at her offered hand for a long moment before finally accepting it with her own. Her own shaking, blood-streaked hand.

X x x

"Do you think she might have left town?" Grissom asked. Half an hour ago that had seemed like an outrageous suggestion; but that was half an hour ago and Sara was still missing.

"I don't know." Cath ran a hand through her hair as she paced around his office. She was so lost in her frantic thoughts that she jumped when her phone rang. "Oh!" She squeaked, fumbling for it so fast that it nearly slipped from her grasp.

It wasn't Sara.

"Willows?"

Grissom held his breath, studying her face for any clue. Any sign of hope.

"Oh thank God." She breathed after a tense few seconds. "Yeah, we're on our way." She hung up, turning to the expectant man hovering behind her. "Sofia found her. She's taken her to hospital."

"Is she alright?" Gil asked, already heading to the door. "Where was she?"

"She was in her car off towards Area 51. Sofia said she was injured but couldn't tell how much, just that she was bleeding."

"Well, at least she's in one piece." Grissom sighed, sending a silent thanks to the man upstairs.

X x x

"For whoever is listening, we've found her. Repeat: Sara Sidle is safe and en route to the hospital." Catherine rattled off into the radio as Grissom navigated the busy streets towards Desert Palms.

"What do you think happened to her?" Gil asked once she put the radio back.

"I don't know." Cath groaned, dragging her fingers through her hair. "I just hope she's alright."

X x x

Warrick blinked, trying to clear his vision. The pills had been burning a hole in his pocket for too long, he couldn't take it anymore. Slipping them back into his coat, his took another long sip of his whiskey. The barman had wisely decided to leave him alone and, even though it was a busy time of night and the bar was full, most of the other customers seemed to be giving him a wide birth as well.

He must be bringing the mood down.

All around him Major C chord chimed away to the happy winners, but Warrick couldn't hear anything. He dropped his head into his hands, mimicking his earlier position in the break room, when the radio clipped to his belt crackled into life.

"_For whoever is listening, we've found her. Repeat: Sara Sidle is safe and en route to the hospital."_ Catherine's words seeped through the fog in his mind, taking a minute to register.

"Thank God." He muttered, casting his drink aside and racing back to his car. Climbing into his Acura, pushing junk food wrappers aside as he did so, he kicked the engine into gear and pulled out without bothering to check the mirrors or buckle up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Dark themes from here on **

**x x x x**

"Sofia!" The detective jumped at the panicked voice, immediately launching herself to her feet when she spotted Catherine and Grissom bulleting towards her. "Where is she?"

Sofia grabbed Catherine's arms to steady her as the CSI skidded to a sudden stop in front of her, wide blue eyes searching her face for answers.

"She's asleep." She assured them. "They've checked her over – they said she's got concussion, a few cuts and bruises and a couple of cracked ribs but nothing that won't heal."

"Thank God." Grissom breathed, visibly relaxing at the news. Catherine was still scanning her face, like she didn't quite believe her.

"I want to see her." She decided at last. Sofia pursed her lips, trying silently to prepare them for what was to come.

"There's something else." She said softly, gearing herself up to utter the words. "They think she was raped."

She watched their expressions change as this sank in. Grissom remained rooted to the spot, a look of disbelief plastered on his paling face. Catherine dropped heavily onto a seat, her expression a picture of stunned dismay.

"Has she said anything?" Gil asked hoarsely, recovering the ability to speak faster than the blonde.

"No. On the way over she didn't say a word." Sofia shook her head sadly, raking a hand through her normally perfect blonde tresses. "But judging by her injuries I'd say it's a fair assumption."

"I want to see her." Cath mumbled again, looking up at them with tearful eyes. Sofia nodded.

"I'll see if I can find her doctor." As the detective disappeared around one corner, Nick and Greg materialised around another.

"Guys! Where is she?" Nick hollered, running towards his colleagues.

"She's sleeping." Grissom answered softly, still in shell shock. "She was raped." He swallowed hard around the words; they felt cold and unfamiliar in his own mouth.

The boys flicked their gazes between their two supervisors, not quite believing it until they saw the look of heartbreak on Catherine's face as unnoticed tears rolled down her white cheeks.

"No." Greg squeaked, dropping into a seat beside the blonde. She reached out to grip his hand softly, a helpless offering of comfort.

"What do we do?" Nick asked weakly, ever the fixer. Grissom exhaled slowly.

"We take care of her."

X x x

They all remained in a stunned silence for a good few minutes before Sofia's reappearance startled them out of their shared thoughts of concern over their young colleague. The detective cleared her throat, gesturing to Catherine.

"The doctor said you can go in." Cath was on her feet before she even finished talking, already setting off down the hallway.

"What about us?" Nick asked, staring up at her with wide brown eyes. Sofia sent him a sympathetic smile.

"Just Catherine at the moment." She didn't bother to explain why; there was no need. She turned to catch up with Catherine, who had already vanished in search of the room.

Eventually, Sofia caught her up and pulled her to a halt outside a private room. Not waiting for further invitation, Cath pushed the door open and crept inside.

Just as the officer had said, Sara was asleep; curled up in an impossibly small ball amid a cocoon of blankets. Sofia's police jacket was draped over her, one sleeve clutched tightly in her bandaged hand.

As Cath approached the bed she heard the detective creep in behind her, although she chose to remain by the door and merely watch the tender interaction that followed.

"Oh baby." Catherine whispered softly, tentatively reaching out a hand to stroke her soft brunette curls.

The contact caused the girl to stir and Cath promptly retracted her hand, not wanting to startle her. Confused dark eyes blinked up at her. "Hey." She whispered softly.

Having taken a long moment to deduce who her visitor was, Sara closed her eyes again. Catherine thought she had fallen back to sleep until a hand snuck out from beneath the covers and latched onto her own. The blonde smiled sadly, perching on the edge of the bed without losing contact with her friend.

"It's okay sweetheart. We're here now." She whispered. Though Sara didn't make a sound, tears began creeping down her bruised face. Catherine reached out to wipe them away gently. "You're going to be okay." She promised softly.

X x x

A clattering at the end of the hall drew the boys from their despondent mood.

"Where is she?" Warrick slurred, stumbling towards them.

"Rick." Nick stood up, holding his hands in an attempt to stop him coming closer.

"I heard on the radio." He continued, oblivious to the Texan. "I want to see her."

"We can't see her yet." Nick attempted to explain. "Cath's with her now."

"I want to see her." He repeated through gritted teeth, shoving his friend aside.

"Warrick," Grissom said firmly, planting himself in front of the man. "You're in no state to be here."

"I'm fine." He insisted. "I want to see her. What happened to her?"

"You need to go home." Gil reiterated, gripping his shoulders tightly.

"Get off me!" Warrick growled, shoving his boss aside and stalking down the hallway. "Sara!" He hollered, jostling passed any hospital staff who dared to get in his way.

Sharing a troubled look, the guys set off after him.

X x x

By the time Sofia heard him coming it was too late.

The door was thrown open and he stumbled into the room with a somewhat perplexed frown.

For the first time since Sofia had found her, Sara reacted. Her eyes flew wide open and she jerked away from him as far as the wires and tubes would allow. Catherine, startled by both Warrick's entrance and Sara's response, reached out to her scared colleague; but the attempt only served to distress her further.

"Sara, girl…" Warrick started to approach the bed but Sofia's firm hand on his arm stopped his motions. "Get off me." He snarled, shrugging her off forcefully. She fell back against the wall with a pained grunt.

The rest of the guys appeared a moment later, out of breath and just as surprised as the women by his aggressive actions.

"Get him out of here." Sofia barked, recovering from her fall. Her anxious gaze was fixed on the bed, where Sara continued to struggle furiously despite Catherine's failed efforts to calm her down.

"Come on Rick," Nick hissed, grabbing his mate firmly by the shoulders. Warrick's attempts to get the strong man off him began to work, until Greg gripped his flailing arms. In his intoxicated state he didn't stand a chance against the both of them and they managed to haul him backwards towards the door.

He continued to protest and call out to the panicked brunette as the door swung shut behind them. Grissom and Sofia remained frozen in shock as Catherine tried pitifully to calm the panic-stricken woman down.

"It's alright baby, they've gone." She promised softly, managing at last to grasp her arms. "You're okay, no one can hurt you in here." Finally her words began to register and Sara stopped fighting, tears streaming down her bruised face. Cath inched closer on the bed, tentatively pulled her into a hug. "Alright darling, I've got you now." She whispered, carefully pressing Sara's fragile, trembling body closer to her.

Deciding that their presence was no longer helping, Grissom and Sofia slipped out to interrogate the dark-skinned man who was still struggling against his two young colleagues.

X x x

"What the hell are you playing at?" Sofia barked as soon as the door was closed. "You scared the hell out of her!"

"I just want to see her! What's happened to her?" He continued to slur, having finally shaken himself free from Nick and Greg.

"Go home Warrick!" Grissom ordered, blocking the door with his whole body.

"Sara!" Warrick called, blatantly ignoring the instruction. "Sara!"

"She was raped!" Greg exploded, nearly smacking Nick across the face as he waved his hands frantically. "Alright! She was raped and she didn't need you bursting in there like that!"

Whether it was the words or the person who spoke them, something stunned Warrick and for the first time since entering the hospital he stopped moving and eyed his colleagues cautiously.

"No way." He muttered softly. "Who…?"

"According to Sara-" Catherine's cold voice spoke from behind them " -you."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone looked up at Catherine, who had snuck out of Sara's room and was staring at Warrick with cold blue eyes.

"What?" He choked.

"According to Sara, you raped her." She repeated slowly, never tearing her gaze from his own.

"I didn't…I wouldn't…" he stuttered, a rush of confused thoughts flooding his mind. He gulped, attempting to form a proper sentence. "She said that?"

There was a moment of stunned silence as a million thoughts ran through everyone's minds.

"You went out with her this morning?" Grissom asked softly, recalling it being mentioned in the break room earlier.

"Yeah, but I didn't…" He trailed off, running a hand through his springy hair. "Come on, I would never…"

"You son of a bitch." Nick hissed, taking a swing for his face. Sofia just managed to catch his arm before it collided with Warrick, who stepped back and stumbled, landing in a heap by the wall. He looked up pitifully at Grissom's stony expression.

"Get out of here." The boss spat coldly.

"I'll take him." A deep voice spoke from down the hall. Warrick's heart sank when he cast a glance up into the icy blue gaze of Jim Brass. The look on the detective's face suggested he had heard everything.

"I'll come with you." Sofia nodded at him, grabbing Rick's arm and roughly hauling him to his feet.

"I didn't do this!" He hollered as the two of them dragged him forcefully down the corridor. "Sara!"

As he disappeared around the corner, still protesting futilely, the boys turned back to Catherine, who was watching him go with tears in her eyes. Greg reached out to tentatively lay a hand on her arm, a feeble attempt to comfort her she like had with him earlier. She flinched at the contact, suddenly snapping back from her thoughts. Without another word to the boys, she wiped her eyes and slipped back into the room, leaving them alone to come to terms with this latest bombshell.

X x x

"I didn't do anything." Warrick complained for the millionth time, his head resting in his hands morosely.

"Save it." Brass snapped, glaring at the dark-skinned CSI from the doorway.

"I swear," he continued, looking up into the detective's eyes. "I would never hurt her."

"Well that's not what she said." Jim countered, raising an eyebrow. Warrick couldn't help bemoan the fact that he'd been left with the veteran officer – it was a well known fact that Brass thought of Sara as a child of his own.

"She's scared." Warrick theorised. "I frightened her at the hospital, she must be confused. She saw me and now everything's mixed up in her head."

Despite his obvious intoxication, he sounded surprisingly lucid. After all, it was entirely plausible that Sara could be confusing the situation in her traumatised state; but something in Jim's eyes told Warrick that he wasn't buying it.

X x x

Just as the remainder of the team made their way into the police station, Sofia emerged from Brass' office looking haggard.

She spotted them heading towards her and raised a hand tiredly in greeting.

"Where is he?" Nick growled before she could even speak.

"Sobering up in lockup." The blonde answered. "How's Sara?"

"Scared." Cath responded bluntly, handing the officer her jacket back, having finally managed to extract it from Sara's vice grip. She had waiting until the girl fell asleep and switched it with her own sweater so that she would still have a security blanket of sorts to hold onto. Sofia accepted it with a grateful nod and a sad smile. "She wanted to go home but her doctor wants to keep her in for a day or two." Catherine continued, dragging a hand through her hair.

"Probably best. We still don't know where this happened." Sofia pointed out; a fact that had crossed all their minds briefly but hadn't been given much attention. "Did she give you anything?"

"Not really. She was pretty distressed." Cath sighed. "All she said was that they'd gone for a drink and she drove him home. And then he attacked her."

"I'll check his apartment." Nick jumped in instantly.

"No Nick." Gil ordered harshly, gripping his arm. "We have to do this by the book."

"Hey we've already let her down once! I want to do this for her!" The younger man insisted, softening his voice. "This is all my fault."

"What makes you say that?" Sofia asked.

"Because I knew he was unstable. I knew that and I still let her go out with him on her own." He shook his head sadly. "I should have stopped her from going. She didn't want to go!"

"Hey Nicky, none of us could have known this would happen." Cath assured him softly. He looked up, meeting her gaze firmly.

"I want this one."

"Me too." Brass added deeply from his office door, holding up Warrick's keys. "I'll go with Nick." Grissom looked between the two men for a long moment before finally nodding.

"Alright. I'll talk to Ecklie and fill him in on the situation."

"I'll come with you." Sofia added hurriedly, slipping her jacket on. A pang of grief cut through her heart as the image of Sara sat in hospital with it clutched protectively to her chest flashed through her memory.

"Good." Grissom nodded. Sofia would have more to offer anyway. His gaze shifted to Greg, who was staring at him with wide, hopeful eyes. What could the trainee do?

"Greg can help me." Catherine answered his silent question. "I'm going to check Sara's car." The young lab rat nodded eagerly, glad that he wasn't going to get sidelined on this one.

Sara was his friend too.

But then, so was Warrick.

X x x

Grissom and Sofia were heading for Ecklie's office when the balding man beat them to it.

"Hey, what the hell's going on?" The harsh voice hollered down the hall as he stalked up behind them.

"We found Sara." Grissom blurted out, having never been very good at thinking on his feet in situations like this. Ecklie flicked his gaze between their sober faces and gestured to his office, accurately deciding that this was a conversation that would privacy.

"Alright," he asked once they were out of earshot of nosy lab rats (i.e. Hodges). "What happened?"

"She was raped." Sofia began softly, watching her boss' face fall. "She's implicated Warrick Brown."

"Brown?" He repeated, sitting up straight. He ran a hand over his face, thinking about how to handle this. "Where is he?"

"In lock up. He…" she paused, sharing a look with Grissom. "He's doing some thinking."

"He's denying it?" Conrad guessed. "Alright, what about Sara?"

"She's still at the hospital. She's pretty beat up."

"Has she given a statement?"

"No," Grissom jumped in, finally finding his voice again. "She told Catherine briefly what happened but she was in too much of a state to say much." He paused, licking his lips briefly. "Nick and Brass have gone to Warrick's apartment." Ecklie took a deep breath, mulling this over.

"And Catherine?"

"Her and Greg and looking at Sara's car. We don't think she made it home."

"Okay." The boss sat forward, taking a moment to settle on a plan of action. "Alright, gather any evidence as a normal case but hold off on any analysis until you-" he pointed at Sofia "-have got her statement and found out what she wants us to do."

"Yes sir." She nodded. "She might want Catherine there, too. For any forensic evidence." She added as an afterthought. He waved a hand.

"Yeah, that's fine. Whatever she wants." He sat forward, locking eyes with Grissom. "Keep tabs on your team, we need to do this cleanly." Grissom nodded sombrely in understanding. "I'll have someone from Day's deal with Warrick. And I'll call the DA and explain the circumstances." He paused, choking out a dry laugh. "He's going to love this."

X x x

Nick poked his head into Warrick's flat. He almost expected his friend to wander out of the kitchen with a beer in his hand.

Taking a deep breath he pushed his way in, followed closely by Brass. The detective had barely said two words in the car, his expression permanently fixed with a concentrated frown.

"Where do you want us to start?" Nick asked, more to break the oppressive silence than anything. Jim looked up, meeting his gaze for the first time.

"The bedroom."

X x x

"Do you think he did it?" Greg asked after a long period of working in silence. Cath looked up, analysing his innocent expression for a minute.

"I believe that Sara thinks he did." She settled on at last. "That's enough for me right now." Greg nodded slowly, going back to his work.

"She looked really frightened." He mumbled quietly.

"She is." Cath answered bluntly, throwing a brief glance up at his sad face. "But that's why we're doing this." He cast his dark eyes back up, acknowledging her sympathetic smile. Understanding, he nodded.

Until they knew what had happened, they were doing this for them both.


	6. Chapter 6

**Didn't expect this one to be quite so long, but I couldn't figure out how to split it so ... enjoy!**

**Or don't, because it's dark and sad. But let me know what you think x**

**x x x x**

"Strip." Eric Golan, the day shift CSI assigned to deal with the suspect barked. Warrick slowly began to remove his clothes, dropping them one by one into the brown bag beside him while Eric continued to glare at him sullenly.

Apparently this guy had already made up his mind about what had happened.

As he undressed, feeling himself becoming more and more self-conscious with each layer he removed, Warrick tried to recall whether he had ever worked with this CSI before. The face was familiar but he couldn't recall any case they'd worked together.

But then, he couldn't remember what happened yesterday.

X x x

Eric glowered at Warrick, purposefully trying to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible. He recognised the man from around the lab but to the best of his recognition had never personally worked with him.

Which was why he had been picked for the delightful task of processing him.

At first he had been pissed at Ecklie for dragging him into what could become a very complicated case, but as he'd calmed down about it he began to be thankful for the task. He may not have worked with Warrick, but he had worked with Sara. She was a good CSI.

And she didn't deserve whatever this jerk had done to her.

He remembered the brunette fondly – she had broken his case if he recalled correctly. They'd even flirted a bit; he'd thought he might have a chance with her until another CSI had set him straight.

Apparently she was a difficult one to catch. Not that that stopped some people from taking it anyway, apparently.

"I want to see Sara." Warrick spoke at last, tearing him from his angry thought.

"That's not going to happen." Brass snapped, appearing in the doorway.

"Jim," Rick pleaded, half-dressed. "At least tell me how she is?"

"No." The detective didn't even consider the request, sliding into a seat and waiting patiently. When no one moved, he waved a hand at Warrick. "Don't stop on my account."

Rick rolled his eyes, turning his back to finish undressing. Behind him, he could hear the dayshift guy getting his camera out to photograph any injuries he could see. Glancing down at his own bare chest, he noticed for the first time several red scratches marring his dark skin.

X x x

"Do you think she'll be up to this today?" Sofia asked nervously as they stalked down the unusually quiet hallway.

"I don't know but the sooner it's done the sooner she can start to move on." Catherine answered with a sigh. Truth was, she didn't want to be here anymore than the police officer. The heavy case swinging by her side was a constant reminder of why she was here.

"Yeah. I guess." Sofia chewed her lip anxiously.

"Greg and I found blood on the driver's side of the car." Cath continued. "We took fibre tapings but until we hear her side of the story we can't do anything with them." They came to a stop outside the same room they had been in the day before. "So let's go get this over with." She added, preparing herself for what was to come.

She poked her head inside the door, before the rest of her crept in after it. Sara, seemingly asleep, caught the movement and whipped around to face the door, her panicked expression relaxing when she realised who it was.

"Oh, hi." She murmured softly.

"Hey." Cath smiled, entering the room completely, followed by Sofia. "Relax, it's just us." Sara managed to smile weakly at them, carefully sitting up in bed. Cath noted how she held the blankets tightly against herself, like she felt exposed.

"We, uh, we're here to take your statement." Sofia said nervously. "Is that alright?"

"Yeah." Sara nodded, although both women noticed how she paled slightly at the thought of talking about her ordeal.

"Okay." Sofia breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling the state that Sara had been in the last time she saw her, she had been worried about upsetting her; although it seemed her fears were unfounded. Sara was still quite obviously shaken, but she seemed to have calmed down enough to talk.

While Sofia contemplated where to sit so as not to crowd the brunette, Catherine had already made her way to the bed and wrapped her into a hug. When she finally released her and stepped back, Sara dropped her gaze into her lap.

"You need photos." She guessed quietly, noting the case by the CSI's feet. Cath chewed her lip apprehensively.

"Yeah." She agreed softly. "Is that okay?" Sara nodded, keeping her gaze trained on her lap. "Alright." Cath nodded, rubbing her shoulder gently.

Sofia, deciding that giving them some physical space was for the best, dragged a chair close to the bed and settled in it, pulling out her notebook.

"I know this isn't going to be easy." She started, sending a sly sideways glance towards Catherine who was busy unpacking her camera. "If you want to stop just let us know."

"Okay." Sara agreed, trying and failing to project some strength through her voice. Sofia sat back in the chair, attempting to make the situation feel a bit more relaxed.

"Alright. Why don't you tell us what happened when you left work?"

"Warrick wanted to go for a drink after shift." Sara started slowly, taking deep breaths in between sentences to keep herself calm. "He asked Nick and Catherine but they said no, so he asked me."

"And you said yes." Sofia guessed.

"I didn't want to go." Sara admitted. "But I thought that if I was with him then he couldn't do anything stupid. I thought I could keep an eye on him."

Catherine swallowed, casting a quick glance at Sofia, who was scribbling all of this down, before gently laying a hand on Sara's shoulder. The brunette flinched but allowed her to move her arm and reveal the mottled bruises marring her pale skin.

"Where did you go?" Sofia continued, trying desperately to ignore the marks that Catherine was photographing and focus entirely on Sara's face.

"We went to a bar on Las Vegas Boulevard – Dinos? I think it was called."

"I've been there." Cath piped up softly, never tearing her concentration from her camera. She had come to the conclusion that if she kept her gaze focussed on the screen it was easier to pretend that the deep bruises and angry scratches were not on her friend's skin.

"We stayed there for a couple of hours; Warrick had quite a few drinks." Sara continued, wincing at the camera flash.

"Can you remember how many?"

"Um, he started on beer and moved onto whiskey. Maybe, six or seven drinks in total?" She tried to recall exactly how many but her memory was fuzzy and each glass merged into one.

"Okay." Sofia nodded encouragingly. This was the sort of information that they could corroborate. "What about you?"

"I ordered one drink, but I never actually touched it. It was just to shut him up." For the first time, Sara spoke with some confidence. She remembered him whining at her when she had refused a drink the first time he asked so had ordered one purely to placate him.

X x x

"We both had a few drinks." Warrick repeated, feeling a shot of pain through his head as the camera flashed in his eyes.

"How many is a few?" Brass asked, noticing the dayshift guy roll his eyes. Apparently this guy was as fed up with Warrick's evasive answers as he was.

"I don't know." Rick whined. "I guess I had about five." He shrugged.

"Stop moving." Eric snapped at him. "Keep your arms out."

"What about Sara?" Jim continued. "How many did she have?" He almost didn't want to know. He knew that the brunette had a bit of an issue with the sauce, but to the best of his knowledge she'd been making strides in dealing with that.

Warrick frowned, scanning his memory. He knew that she'd had at least one, even if he'd had to bully her into getting it.

"I told you I can't remember." He groaned at last. Jim put his pen down and fixed him with a dark glare.

"Too bad."

X x x

Catherine swallowed, trying to block the images out of her mind as she untied Sara's hospital gown and slipped it down her bruised shoulders. She could feel the brunette tense up and a pang of guilt shot through her. She desperately wanted to tell her it was okay and they could stop, but they both knew that sooner or later she would have to undergo this.

"Alright." The detective nodded, briefly catching Catherine's gaze. This was where it would get difficult for Sara to tell them. "So, you drove him home? What happened after that?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

X x x

"I got him into his flat and tried to get him into the bedroom. He was stumbling all over the place." She paused, taking a few more breaths to calm herself. Catherine had been brushing her hair away from the back of her neck but Sara felt her stop for a moment to let her regain her composure. As soon as she started talking again, the blonde continued what she was doing, albeit casting frequent glances at her face as she did.

"I got him onto the bed and tried to step back but he pulled me down. He wouldn't let go of me-" she rubbed her wrists absently, something which did not go unnoticed by either of her colleagues.

"What happened next, honey?" Sofia asked gently, fixing her with a compassionate look.

"He took his shirt off. And then started to undress me." Sara swallowed hard. "I tried to fight him off but he was on top of me. He wouldn't listen to me."

Catherine had stopped what she was doing momentarily and was silently listening to Sara's story, tears streaking down her face. She took a deep breath, wiping them away. Sara did not need to see her fall apart now. Sofia seemed to be handling it marginally better, although admittedly not much.

"Did he say anything to you?"

"No." Sara blinked away her own tears, studiously keeping her gaze averted, watching the heart monitor beep rhythmically by her side. "I don't think so. I guess he might have."

"Than what happened?" She already knew the answer, but it had to be officially noted in the statement. Sara looked up, understanding the need for the question.

"He raped me." She mumbled; the words feeling cold and raw in her mouth.

X x x

"I never laid a hand on her!" He insisted, running a hand through his hair. The bright orange boiler suit he'd been given was too small and restricted his movements.

"So, you're saying she's lying?" Brass queried. Eric flicked his eyes up briefly from the evidence bag he was scrawling on, shooting a cold glare at the suspect. Scattered around him were several samples from hair combings to fingernail scrapings.

"No!" Warrick shouted, before lowering his voice. "No, I … I think she's confused."

"I think you're the one who's confused." Brass retorted. He looked at the other CSI, who nodded to indicate that he was finished. Brass gestured for a uniform to come over. "Take him back to lock-up, see if it improves his memory."

X x x

"What did you do after he passed out?"

"I left." Sara shrugged, returning to her previous stance of staring at the equipment beside her bed. "I drove around for a while – I didn't really know where to go. I … I nearly phoned you," she cast a glance over her shoulder at Catherine, who had resumed her examination and was photographing her back. The CSI placed a hand on her shoulder in response to the sentiment. "But I panicked; I didn't know what to say. So, I just sat there … until you found me." It was unspoken, but there was a hint of gratitude in her voice.

"Alright." Sofia nodded gratefully, thankful to whoever was listening that it was over. "Okay, that's all I need. Thank you." Sara nodded, fiddling nervously with the blanket in her lap.

"Where's Warrick?" She asked quietly. The two blonde's shared a look. They hadn't been briefed on what to tell her about proceedings so far. After deliberating silently for a moment they settled on the truth. She was owed that much, at least.

"He's at the station. We're checking his apartment."

"Has he been charged yet?" she looked up at them with wide brown eyes that made it impossible to tell what answer she was hoping for.

"Not yet honey." Catherine answered, placing her camera down. "That'll depend on what you want us to do." Sara frowned in thought for a moment.

"I don't know." She murmured sadly. Sofia placed a hand over hers.

"That's okay." She assured her. "How about we deal with the evidence as normal and if you decide to drop the charge then we can just shelve the case. That way, if you change your mind the evidence is still there." Sara considered this suggestion for a moment before finally agreeing. She was still confused about what she wanted but that sounded like a sensible idea. "Okay." Sofia rubbed her arm softly, offering a sympathetic smile. "I'll go get this to Ecklie. I hope you feel better, Sara."

"Don't…" Sara called out, pausing for a second. "Don't be too hard on him." She finished at last. "He didn't know what he was doing." Sofia smiled sympathetically.

"Don't you worry about him." She scolded softly. "We'll handle it."

X x x

Warrick cringed as the metal doors ground shut behind him. He dropped heavily onto the bed, burying his head in his hands and trying to figure out where his life had gone so wrong.

Instinctively checking that he was alone, though he knew he was, he undid his boiler suit and examined the scratches on his chest with confusion.

He loved Sara; he would never hurt her.

But someone had raped her and the clues were increasingly pointing at him.

X x x

Once the detective left, Sara pulled her knees up to her chest defensively. She could feel Catherine's eyes on her, burning into her damaged skin.

"What do you need?" She mumbled softly, although she already had a feeling she knew the answer. Cath opened her mouth, hesitant to answer.

"I need you to lie down." She said quietly at last.

Sara obliged compliantly, allowing Catherine to undress her as required and take the photos that she needed without protest.

Despite not wanting to cross any personal boundaries with the brunette, Cath couldn't resist letting her hands wander up Sara's sides. As her fingertips grazed the slim ribcage, she felt the girl's breathing become more laboured and promptly retracted her hands.

"Okay, I'm finished sweetie." She whispered, returning her camera to its case. Sara gladly covered herself back up and shuffled to a seated position, clutching Catherine's sweater to her chest. She had no idea where it had come from, she had woken up with it but she was grateful for it all the same. Cath, watching her movements out of the corner of her eye, smiled softly at this sight.

Running a hand through her hair, she carefully sat on the edge of the bed and took Sara's hand in her own.

"You're going to be okay." She promised softly. They both knew that she had no assurances of this, but it seemed to make them both feel a bit better to hear it said. Sara finally met her gaze, tears creeping down her face.

"Why did he do it?" Catherine's heart broke at the undisguised confusion in her voice.

"I don't know, baby." She whispered, reaching out to stroke her hair softly. "I don't know." Sara looked down into her lap, ashamed to be caught crying in front of her strong supervisor. She felt Catherine move gradually closer, until she was enveloped in a tight hug. After a whole minute she snaked her arms around Cath's waist, feeling herself slowly start to relax into the embrace.

To her surprise it was not awkward or uncomfortable.

It felt safe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the delay, hope you enjoy **

**x x x x**

"So this is where you've been hiding." Catherine commented dryly, sauntering into Grissom's office. "I was beginning to think you'd gotten lost."

Grissom blinked up at her in confusion. Realising that she wasn't going to get a response from him, she made herself comfortable in the chair in front of his desk and continued.

"Have you been to see Sara yet?"

"No." He mumbled, focussing his attention back on the computer screen in a failed attempt to end the conversation. Cath pursed her lips.

"What about Warrick?"

"No."

"Okay." She nodded slowly. "Are you planning on seeing them anytime soon?" He sighed, taking his glasses off and fixing her with a tired look.

"How can I?" He asked sadly. "I wouldn't know what to say to either of them." Catherine offered a sympathetic smile.

"Well, I can't speak for Warrick but I know that Sara wants to see you." She said with a hopeful shrug. His only response was another sigh. She nodded; she knew him well enough to understand his silent answer. "Well, that's not why I came anyway." She admitted. He fixed her with a curious look, glad the heat was off him, at least for now. "I wanted to know if you have a contact number for her family."

"What for?" The entomologist frowned. Cath blinked at him.

"Well, I think we should let someone know what's happened." She explained slowly. "Her parents have a right to know that their daughter is in hospital."

Grissom pursed his lips, tapping his glasses against the table gently.

"Catherine…" he began tentatively, debating how much he should say. "Sara doesn't really have any family … she grew up in foster care."

"Oh." Cath looked down, taken aback by this new information. "Oh. Okay." She cleared her throat and pushed herself away from the desk. "I'll tell her that you asked after her." She added as an afterthought, standing up.

"Thank you." He mumbled gratefully, instantly returning to staring blankly at his laptop. She made to leave but stopped in the doorway, casting a concerned glance back at him.

"Hey," she called softly, regaining his attention. "When was the last time you slept?" He exhaled deeply, a look of concentration flashing across his face. How long had he been sat here?

"Two days ago." He answered honestly after a minute. Before she could speak he held up his hands. "I know; I'll go home soon, I promise."

"No you won't." She sighed knowingly.

X x x

"Are you sure Brass said you could sit in on the interrogation?" Greg asked suspiciously, trailing behind Nick in the hallway. The older man didn't respond, which in itself was answer enough. Hoping to cut the tension, Greg changed the subject. "What did you find in his flat?"

"Not enough." Nick scowled. "There was a broken lamp and a few stains but not enough to suggest a struggle." He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know man, there's just not enough to prove he did it."

"Maybe he didn't." Greg suggested quietly, instantly regretting it when Nick sent him an irate look.

"You're saying she's lying?" He barked.

"No!" Greg backtracked. "No, of course not." He swallowed, trying to think of a way to pacify the Texan. "I'm just saying that until we get the DNA back we don't know exactly what happened. Maybe she's confused. She's obviously been through a lot and Warrick freaked her out at the hospital, maybe she is just mixed up."

"She's not mixed up." Nick contradicted sullenly. "She said he did it and I believe her." Greg bit his tongue for a moment, contemplating how best to phrase his next thought.

"Please don't bite my head off-" He started gently. "-but are you gunning for him because you genuinely think he's a rapist, or because of your fight?" Nick's dark eyes flashed briefly to his own.

"He did it." He snapped instantly, stalking down the hallway and leaving Greg standing alone.

"Alright." The trainee hummed sarcastically, throwing his hands up. "Well I'm glad you gave it some thought."

X x x

"State your full name and address for the tape." Brass droned, though it probably wasn't necessary. Warrick dutifully did as asked, never tearing his gaze from Nick's.

"How's Sara?" He asked once he'd provided the relevant information.

"What happened two days ago?" Nick responded coolly, ignoring the question. Warrick bit back a retort, determined to keep calm. He had had enough time to think in the last couple of days and he'd come to the conclusion that if he kept losing it he was never going to get out of here.

"I'm not answering any questions until you tell me how she is." He answered calmly. Nick scoffed, shaking his head. Brass, on the other hand, relented quite easily to the demands.

"She's fine." He snapped gruffly. "Catherine's keeping an eye on her."

Warrick nodded, grateful for the response. He sat back and folded his arms, waiting for the first question.

"What happened to her?" Nick repeated forcefully. Brass held out his hand, silently warning the Texan to rein his tempter in. He had decided it would be an effort in vain to stop the CSI from attending the interrogation but he was not above kicking him out if necessary.

"What have you remembered about the day before yesterday?" He rephrased the question on Nick's behalf. Warrick took a deep breath.

"I remember leaving work. I'd had a rough shift-" he gave Nick a pointed look. "-so I wanted a drink before going home. No one else wanted to go but Sara agreed to come with me."

"You bullied Sara into going with you." Nick disputed, earning him a scowl from Warrick.

"She didn't have to come." He argued testily.

"Yeah, like you really gave her a choice! She was probably scared you'd throw another temper tantrum!"

"Alright!" Brass held up his hands, sending a sideways warning glance at Nick. "Warrick, why don't you tell us what you remember about what happened when you got back to the flat?"

Warrick took a deep breath. The events of that morning had been coming back to him in pieces, but everything was still hazy.

"We went inside. I was … unsteady on my feet. Sara helped me into my room." He paused, taking a moment to send Nick a warning glare in case he dared interrupt again. "I guess she helped undress me and put me to bed."

"And you remember her doing this?" Jim asked, scribbling it down in his notebook.

"Not really, but I woke up in bed …"

"You don't remember it because it didn't happen!" Nick spat, jumping to his feet. "She didn't put you to bed! You pinned her down and you raped her and then you passed out!"

"I didn't…I didn't rape her!" Warrick growled, running a hand over his face.

"Well someone did!" He continued, ignoring Brass' attempts to pull him back into his seat. "And you were the last person to see her so tell me Rick, what the hell did happen?"

"I don't know!" He erupted, slamming his hands on the table. "I don't fucking know what happened because I can't remember!"

"Alright!" Jim stood up, holding his arms out between them. "Nick, get out!" When the younger CSI didn't move the detective turned to glare at him until he finally caved and stomped into the next room, slamming the door behind him. Alone, Jim turned back to Warrick, who had his head in his hands. "Interview terminated at eleven thirty." He said, switching the tape recorder off and turning to the uniform that was lurking in the corner. The police officer had wisely stayed put throughout the interview but now he stood up straight, awaiting instruction from his boss.

Jim waved a disregarding hand at the pitiful man in front of them. "Send him home." He muttered. "He needs a shower."

Warrick looked up, startled to realise he was being released. He opened his mouth to offer some kind of thanks to Jim, but found himself hauled to his feet by the burly looking officer behind him.

X x x

"Hey." Cath jumped, startled by the voice. Brass held up his hands in apology as he crept into the room. "Sorry. I thought I'd find you here."

Catherine turned back to the bed without answering, watching over her colleague.

"How's she doing?"

"Sleeping." She stated obviously. "Other than that I haven't got a clue." She wiped surreptitiously at her eyes before turning to the detective. "What's going on with Warrick?"

"I've tried to get a statement out of him: I sent him home, there's no point in keeping him in until we get the forensic results." He ambled slowly over to the bed as he spoke, keeping his voice low so as not to wake the patient. "He still swears that he didn't hurt her, but I don't think he can remember a thing."

"Sara did say he had a lot to drink." Cath pointed out softly.

"Yeah. Well I'm going to the bar next so we'll find out just how much he had. It's going to be the only way to prove anything I think." He ran a hand over his face tiredly. "I thought Nick was going to punch his lights out."

Catherine looked up sharply.

"You let Nick sit in?" She asked, shocked. Brass laughed dryly.

"I didn't 'let' him. He decided to." Catherine hummed in understanding. "He's already made up his mind about what happened."

"Yeah, I can imagine." She breathed, picturing Nick's face that first night at the hospital.

As they spoke Jim's eyes had been scanning Sara for all visible injuries. Catherine studied his face carefully, reading the tormented emotions running through it. "What did he do to her?" He asked sadly.

Without a word, Cath sat forward and tenderly brushed Sara's hair aside, like she had done yesterday during the examination. Sara frowned in her sleep but didn't stir as the blonde revealed the deep bruising on her neck.

There were four distinctive marks on either side of her throat.

Beside her, she heard Jim inhale sharply and sat back sadly in her seat. She let one hand remain where it was, submerging it in Sara's hair and running her fingers through the silky brown locks.

"She's a sweetheart." He mumbled at last, casting an affectionate gaze over her.

"Yeah." Cath agreed softly, releasing a sigh. "I don't know what to do, Jim. According to Grissom she's got no family. No parents."

"She's got us." He pointed out, perching on the foot of the bed. Cath choked out a laugh.

"Yeah, 'cause we've done so much good for her so far." She shook her head. "We let this happen to her."

"No, this isn't our fault." Brass attempted to reassure her. "We're not responsible for Warrick's actions."

"No, but we are responsible for her." Cath retorted instinctively, pausing as soon as the words left her mouth. She cast a glance over the sleeping girl. "At least, it feels like we are."

Jim laughed softly, nodding in agreement. Cath, however, was not finding that realisation so humorous.

"My God," she groaned. "It's not just Lindsey; I've messed up Sara too!"

"Oh come on, you haven't messed either of them up." Jim scoffed.

"No? The most conversation I get out of Lindsey is an argument." She countered. "And, well just look at Sara!"

"Lindsey's a teenager. And this is not your fault. It's no one's fault."

Before Cath could retort, Sara began to struggle for breath; choking and gasping in her sleep.

Catherine was on her feet in a heartbeat, one hand on Sara's forehead and the other gently pinning her chest down.

"Shush, calm down sweetie." She whispered, rubbing soft circles on her chest in an attempt to relax her laboured breathing. When Sara's fit seemed to get worse, she gripped her arms and carefully lifted her onto her back. Sara turned her head frantically to one side, still struggling to catch her breath. "Alright baby, you're okay." Catherine continued calmly, leaning over the bed for the oxygen mask that was nearby. Without disturbing her, she managed to hold her head still and slip the mask over her face. "There you go sweetheart." She smiled down at her fondly as she affixed it in place.

As soon as she was done Sara calmed down and settled back into her previous position curled on her side. Catherine sank back into her seat, never tearing her concerned gaze from her friend.

A soft chuckle tore her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, you're right." Jim muttered sarcastically. "You're a terrible mother."


	8. Chapter 8

**x x x x**

"Yeah." The security guard drawled after an exceedingly long time. "Yeah, I remember them." He tapped the photograph of Warrick softly. "He was tanked. His pretty lady friend practically carried him outta here." He scratched his head in concentration, trying to dredge up any further memories. "I even asked her if she wanted me to call a cab but she said she was fine."

"So, you spoke to her." Brass nodded, jotting that down in his notebook. "How did she seem?"

"Pissed off." The overweight man replied instantly in his thick southern accent. Jim laughed softly.

"No, I mean did she seem like she'd been drinking too?"

"Oh! No." The aptly-named Rocco shook his head resolutely. "No, she was stone cold sober. Good thing too, judging by the way he was falling all over himself."

"Alright." Jim nodded, pointing up at a camera that was blinking away above them. "Tapes?"

"They're all stored in the security office." Rocco nodded, leading the way through the dimly lit bar. It was before opening time so there was no one else around; something the detective was thankful for. "There are seven cameras in total. You want videos from all of them?"

"Yeah." Jim nodded. "Everything from when they entered to when they left."

"Alright-y then." Rocco mumbled, scanning through his excessive collection for the relevant tapes. "You know, I nearly became a cop." He said proudly. Brass grunted something in response and rolled his eyes. He had lost count of how many people dragged out that tired old line in his career. He quietly postulated that this guy had probably failed on the fitness test.  
>Gathering that his attempt at small talk had fallen flat, Rocco tried again. "So, what's going on anyway? Don't tell me something bad happened to that pretty young lady?"<p>

"You could say that." Brass muttered gruffly, accepting the tapes with a grateful nod.

"Well, you give the guy that did it what-for." Rocco scowled. Jim laughed dryly.

"Oh don't worry. I plan on."

"And hey!" The guard hollered, jogged after the departing detective. "You keep those tapes as long as you need 'em." He saw Jim acknowledge his comment with a wave before clambering into his unmarked car. With his hands on his hips, Rocco nodded haughtily, puffing as he caught his breath back. "Anything for the fellow boys in blue."

X x x

"Anything you want to talk about?" Catherine asked, slyly glancing up from the images scattered on the layout table to catch Nick's eye.

"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning at her in bemusement. She dropped the CCTV image she'd been scrutinising and met his curious gaze.

"Nicky … I know that it's not looking good for Warrick, but don't you think we should wait until all the evidence is in before you cast him out altogether?" She reasoned gently. He looked away for a moment before lifting his gaze back to hers.

"Let me ask you something Catherine," he began. "You've spent a lot of time with Sara since this happened. Do you think she's lying?"

Cath blinked, taken aback by the question. "No." she answered with certainty.

"Okay then." He nodded, going back to his work. She pursed her lips, casting her eyes back at the photo she had been studying. It was a still of her two colleagues in the bar. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were just two friends having a relaxed drink after work. Warrick's arm was draped around Sara's shoulders, hugging her close. Sara's reaction was impossible to see from the camera angle.

Not quite willing to let it drop yet, she looked back up.

"I don't think she's lying. But I also don't believe that Warrick would _intentionally_ hurt her." She pressed.

"Yeah, and neither do I." Nick huffed, placing his hands on the table and fixing her with a frustrated look. "But so far the evidence says he did. And I … I care about her." His voice cracked, prompting him to glance away, swallowing hard.

"I know you do Nicky." She smiled sadly. "And it's so sweet that you're sticking up for her. But don't forget that Warrick needs friends too, whatever he's done wrong."

Nick frowned, taking deep breaths. Finally, he looked up with tears in his eyes.

"Catherine, you remember I told you about … what happened to me as a kid?"

"Yeah." She whispered, surprised by the turn of the conversation.

"Well … I kind of know how she feels." He ran a hand over his face, and Cath suddenly noticed how tired he looked. "She was with someone she trusted … and he betrayed her. She will feel worse than she ever has right now."

"Yeah, she will." Cath agreed softly. "Which is why she needs her friends to keep their cool." Despite himself, Nick looked up, getting drawn into her compassionate gaze. "You had your family Nicky … Sara has to make do with us. Don't make it worse by fracturing the team even more."

X x x

"Alright." Grissom held up his hands in a weak attempted to silence the crowd as he shuffled into the layout room. "What was with the emergency page?"

"DNA results are in." Greg answered, turning expectantly to Wendy. The rest of the team were also present, along with Hodges and Henry.

"Okay." The brunette lab rat started quietly. "The sample from Sara's SAE kit matches the sample found on Warrick's bed … it's a combination of their DNA." She swallowed. "I also matched the blood stain on his clothes to Sara and the skin under her nails back to Warrick."

"Oh God." Catherine exhaled slowly. But the lab rat wasn't done.

"I did find small amounts of Warrick's blood on the pillow, as well as in the sink and on Sara's steering wheel. So, maybe she hit him?" There was a heavy silence as this sank in. "I'm sorry." Wendy added softly, slipping the folder behind her back out of sight. "I checked it three times to be certain."

"Thanks Wendy." Gil nodded solemnly.

"I bet he didn't even notice her blood was all over him." Hodges spat in a despising tone.

"Alright, David." Grissom barked, taking a deep breath. "Henry, what were the tox results?"

"Well, I tested both their samples for all the obvious substances. Obviously, both were taken a few hours after the event, but not enough for all evidence to have left their system." The rat babbled nervously, toying with the paper in his hands.

"Henry." Nick pressed impatiently.

"Right, sorry." He cleared his throat. "Judging by the time frame, Warrick's blood alcohol content would have been at .25." Greg whistled, shaking his head slowly. He didn't like where this was going. "He also had traces of amphetamines in his system."

"He was taking pep pills to keep himself alert." Nick mumbled, recalling the source of their fight.

"Well, he would have been pretty out of it, but the amounts are probably not enough to render him unconscious, especially if he'd been using for a while."

"What about Sara?" Grissom asked hurriedly. Henry pursed his lips. He'd tested her blood for any trace of alcohol, date rape drug or medicinal drug, just in case she was intoxicated herself.

"She was clean." He breathed. "Not so much as an aspirin."

There was a long moment of silence as they all contemplated what this meant, until it was broken by the voice of Conrad Ecklie.

"Well," he sighed from his spot in the doorway. "I guess that's case closed then….Brown raped her."

"Son of a bitch!" Nick erupted, pushing himself away from the table and beginning to pace.

"I can't believe it." Catherine pressed her hand to her mouth, turning a little green. At Ecklie's nod, the lab rats departed, leaving what was left of the night shift alone. He closed the door and stepped up to the table.

"Call Jim. Have him pick bring Warrick back in." The lab executive ordered of no one in particular. "Catherine, call Sofia and the two of you find out what Sara wants us to do now. I've already spoken to the DA - it's her choice."

"Okay." The blonde nodded, not sticking around to hear any more.

"I can't believe it's true." Greg gulped softly. "I mean, I knew there was a chance but I just kept hoping that there was something we were missing. Something that would explain why …"

"Sometimes," Grissom whispered, "there isn't a reason."

**x x x x**

**Apologies for the unsettling outcome, but thats life sometimes  
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	9. Chapter 9

"Hey." Sara looked up at the soft voice, a genuine smile gracing her face for the first time in days. Catherine was leaning against the doorframe holding her car keys up like bait. "You ready to go?"

"Absolutely." Sara agreed, instantly jumping off the bed. Having done very little movement in the last couple of days, she overestimated her strength and as soon as her feet touched the floor she lost balance and grabbed the bedrail before she fell.

"Hey, easy there girl." Cath scolded, materialising by her side in a heartbeat to support her.

"I'm okay." Sara mumbled, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself.

"All evidence to the contrary, missy." Catherine frowned, keeping tight hold of Sara's arm as she helped her to slip her jacket on. "Remember, you are under strict instructions to take it easy."

"I know." Sara muttered, zipping her coat up.

"And my sister's a nurse, so don't try to pull any stunts." Cath continued, placing her hands on her hips sternly. "You are on rest."

"Okay." Sara nodded, trying to keep a straight at Catherine's attempt at mothering her. "Can we go now, please?" Cath pursed her lips, hiding a smile at Sara's cheeky insolence.

"Yes. We can go now."

The staff hadn't really wanted her to go home yet, more due to her mental state than anything, but Catherine had convinced Nancy that the brunette would behave herself if she was under suitable supervision.

And who better than her assistance supervisor?

X x x

Warrick kept his unfocused gaze fixed on the ground as he was frog-marched in handcuffs to the interrogation rooms. He could feel the cold eyes of nearby police officers watching his jerky movements but maintained his stance of avoiding their stares.

Brass tugged on his arm, dragging him into the nearest room and effectively dropping him into a seat. He heard the detective leave again, slamming the door behind him. After a long moment he lifted his gaze, surprised by what he saw.

Grissom stared back at him patiently.

"Hey." Warrick greeted hoarsely. He hadn't been particularly shocked when the Police turned up at his door, but this was unexpected. He glanced around the room awkwardly; it suddenly seemed so unfamiliar to him despite the many hours he had spent in there. His gaze finally settled back on Grissom and he shuffled awkwardly under his old friend's unwavering blue eyes.

"What have you taken?" The supervisor asked bluntly after scrutinising the man for a long minute.

Warrick shook his head, although it was barely noticeable beneath his general shaking.

"Nothing … just painkillers." He lied, his foot tapping against the floor beyond his control. Grissom raised an eyebrow at him but didn't question it. Instead, he slid a file across the table to him.

"You were on more than that a couple of nights ago." He pointed out calmly. Warrick's face fell as he scanned the jumble of numbers before him. Had he really been that drunk?

"Griss, man … I don't know what to say." He mumbled sheepishly, nudging the paperwork back towards him. He could feel Brass staring at him through the one-way mirror. It wouldn't surprise him if Nick was lurking behind there somewhere as well, waiting to have another pop at him.

"Well," Grissom drawled slowly. "You could start by telling me what happened that night." Warrick sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"I don't know what happened." He growled, trying to hold his temper. He had never lost it in front of his boss yet, he wasn't about to start now.

"We already know what happened." Griss shrugged. "I just want to hear your side of it." The CSI shook his head, glancing up.

"Gil, I swear this isn't right." He mumbled, at a loss of what else to say.

Without a word, Grissom slid another folder across the table towards him. Warrick blinked at it, before reaching a trembling hand towards it.

X x x

"What?" Sara asked after a long period of silence. Catherine briefly drew her eyes from the road to send her a sideways glance.

"What?" She echoed with a frown. Sara turned away from the window to send her an obvious look.

"I know you want to ask me something. What is it?" Catherine pursed her lips, a guilty look crossing her features. Apparently this one was hard to fool.

"Well, there was something." She admitted. "I was going to wait until we got back, but I doubt it'll make it any easier." She stopped the car at a red light and turned to face her passenger, taking a deep breath. "We got the DNA results back."

"Oh." Sara's face fell and she averted her gaze to her lap. Catherine watched her for a long moment, waiting to see if she was going to speak again. A horn blaring behind them startled her back to present time and she realised that the light had changed.

"So, what happens now?" Sara asked quietly after a few minutes of driving in silence. Catherine exhaled slowly.

"That's up to you." She said. "Due to the circumstances the DA is willing to follow your lead on this. Whatever you decide, that's what'll happen." Sara looked up wide-eyed.

"Do I have to decide now?" She asked, not even attempting to disguise the vulnerability in her voice this time.

"No, of course not sweetie." Cath reached out to grip Sara's hand. "Take all the time you need. Sofia was going to come around later to talk about the options with you."

"Okay." Sara mumbled, staring at their conjoined hands thoughtfully. "Thank you." She added as an afterthought.

Catherine squeezed her hand gently, silently letting her know it was okay.

X x x

"This isn't right. It can't be." Warrick mumbled, shaking his head in loss as his eyes scanned the paper in front of him. He had seen many a results sheet like this before, but his brain simply wouldn't process the information he was seeing.

"It is." Grissom contradicted softly. Warrick looked up, meeting his supervisor's disappointed gaze.

"Gil, I swear…"

"Save it Warrick." He shook his head, standing up. "I'm not the one who you need to explain it to."

The boss shuffled out, leaving Warrick to stare after him dejectedly.

X x x

Catherine pulled up the drive, releasing a relieved breath. Sara had not spoken again, which had resulted in a twenty minute journey of silence.

Opening the car door, Cath swung her legs out and gladly breathed in the fresh dawn air. She realised how long it had been since she'd had time to enjoy such simple beauties of life.

In the back of her mind, she wondered whether Sara would notice these things again. She still seemed numb.

She hopped out of the car and stretched, before realising that the girl remained where she was, facing out of the windscreen with an unreadable expression.

"Sara?" She queried softly, leaning back into the car. "Honey, you okay?" Sara didn't move, or acknowledge her question as she spoke.

"Can you call Sofia, please?" She asked quietly. Catherine frowned, reaching for her cell phone.

"Sure, is everything alright?"

"Yeah." Sara nodded slowly, finally turning to face her. "I've made my decision."

X x x

Warrick looked up despondently as Brass re-entered the room and sat back down, slipping his phone into his pocket. He held the dark-skinned man's gaze for a long moment before tossing him a clear plastic bag. Warrick stared at it dumbly for a moment. It contained his watch, wallet and keys.

"Get out of here." The detective spat sullenly.

"I can go?" He questioned suspiciously. Brass's lips turned into a sneer.

"Luckily for you, Sara still believes there's some good in you." He hissed. Warrick's green eyes widened impossibly.

"She's not pressing charges?" He clarified, releasing a breath. He ran a hand over his face, snatching the bag with his other hand. "Thank you." He breathed, relief flooding his features.

"It's not me you have to thank." Jim snapped, pushing himself away from the table and stalking out of the room. Warrick watched him go with a dazed look, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

X x x

"Hey," Cath rapped lightly on her guest room door. "You decent?" She poked her head inside tentatively. Sara looked up, smiling tiredly at the blonde. She was already under the duvet, with her knees pulled up to her chest and a book in her hands. Catherine slipped inside and placed a steaming mug of tea on the table, perching on the bed beside Sara.

"Honey," she began gently, "I know that you need to deal with this in your own way." She reached out to lay a hand over Sara's, rubbing small circles with the pad of her thumb. "But, I also know that you don't have family to call on … so I just want you to know that you can talk to me." Sara gave her a quizzical look, opening and closing her mouth without releasing a sound. "Grissom told me." Cath answered her silent question softly, understanding her confusion.

"How much did he tell you?" The brunette asked uncertainly. Catherine pursed her lips, tightening her grip on Sara's hand.

"That you grew up in foster care."

"Oh. Okay." Sara nodded, a soft frown embedding itself in her features. Cath studied her face for a minute before deciding the subject was best left closed for the time being. She leant forward, placing a kiss on Sara's forehead.

"Get some rest, honey. I'll be downstairs if you need me."

Sara watched her go, searching for something to say in return. She wanted to thank her, to tell her how much she appreciated everything. But the words came too late; Catherine had already disappeared. With a sigh, Sara put the book back where she had found it on the bedside table and switched off the lamp. She curled up beneath the covers, breathing in the scent of Catherine's home.

She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she was glad Catherine insisted she stayed with her. She hadn't really wanted to be alone anyway.

**x x x x**

**Hope you like, let me know what you think x**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, there's been a few issues with the website ; not sure whether all of my chapters are showing. So, I hope that you can actually see this, and I hope it sorts itself out soon. **

**Let me know what you think. **

**Or, just let me know that you can see it haha :P**

**x x x x**

Warrick stepped out onto the front steps, blinking at the unexpectedly bright dawn sun.

It was still early and aside from a few meandering uniforms, there was nobody around. He shuffled down the stairs, stretching stiffly. Out of instinct, he scanned the parking lot for his car, before realising that he'd been brought in via Brass. His car was at home.

With a sigh he pulled out his cell phone, now returned to him, and called for a cab.

While he waited for his ride he ambled towards the road edge, watching the distant traffic lazily while he pondered his situation. Yes, he was free … legally. But what would happen now?

Would Sara still want to work with him? Would any of them?

And what would he say to Sara when he saw her? After all, he still wasn't entirely sure what had happened that night, despite the results of the forensic tests.

Warrick didn't know how long he'd been staring into space when a horn beeping behind him startled him out of his thoughts. He turned to find an impatient taxi driver glaring at him from behind a pair of dark shades.

The CSI climbed into the car and offered an apologetic smile.

"Where we heading?" The driver asked in a thick New York accent.

He was on the verge of giving the address of the nearest bar, but Sara's face flashed before his eyes. Her bruised, scared face when she'd seen him at the hospital. According to the science – the one thing he could trust – he'd done that to her.

"You look like you need a drink?" The cab driver continued, blatantly hinting for a direction. "Going out?"

With the guilt of his apparent actins burning through his mind, Warrick shook his head.

"Going home." He mumbled softly.

X x x

Catherine jumped, surprised by the loud knock at her door. Putting down her book, she cautiously peered through the window; equally surprised and relieved by her guest.

"Hey." She greeted, swinging the door open. Nick fidgeted nervously on the doorstep for a moment before sliding past her into the house, instantly feeling the warmth soak into his skin.

"I know it's early." He conceded. "I was going to wait, but … how is she?"

Catherine smiled, beckoning him further inside.

"She's fine. She's asleep right now."

He followed her into the kitchen where she proceeded to pour two cups of coffee before they settled in the lounge. Nursing his drink, Nick glanced around the room anxiously. He had been in Catherine's house many a time, but never for a reason as grave as this.

"How's Warrick?" She asked at last, revelling in the feeling of the hot liquid sliding down her throat.

"I don't know." Nick mumbled, a dark look crossing his features. "I don't care."

"Nicky." The blonde chastised softly.

"What?" He shrugged. "You know what he did to her."

"Yeah, I know." She admitted quietly. "But it doesn't change how much I care about him."

They were quiet for a few minutes, sharing the silence while they sipped their drinks. Finally, Nick spoke.

"Would it be alright if I saw her?" He asked tentatively, setting his mug down on the coffee table. "I promise I won't wake her, I just want to see her for a minute?"

Cath pursed her lips in thought for a moment, analysing the Texan's eager face and big, sad brown eyes.

X x x

Warrick tossed his keys onto the couch and dropped down beside them heavily, sinking into the cushions. The journey home seemed to have taken forever.

His apartment suddenly seemed so quiet. He'd never noticed that before.

Unnerved by the silence, he switched on the TV. It was some corny soap opera, with a hysterical woman shrieking at some poor bemused man. It was pathetic, granted, but it was noise. So it would do.

X x x

Nick crept into the room, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness as he manoeuvred his way to the bed. The light from the hall illuminated enough of the room to allow him to see Sara, sound asleep, in the centre of the bed. She was curled in an impossibly tight ball, like she was trying to protect herself.

He could sense Catherine lingering in the doorway behind him as he perched on the edge of the bed, hesitantly reaching out a hand to brush her dark locks away from her face.

"Man, I've never seen her like that." He whispered, turning to look at Catherine with tearful eyes. "At the hospital, that first night … she was so scared."

Catherine moved into the room, joining him on the bed.

"Yeah." She agreed softly. "But she is okay."

"I know." He sobbed, fighting a losing battle with his tears. Catherine reached out to stroke his arm gently in an attempt to console him, letting her other hand settle on Sara's shoulder. The brunette mumbled something in her sleep but didn't stir. The noise regained their attention; Nick smiled down at her fondly. "She's going to get through this." He decided defiantly at last.

"Yeah, of course she is." Catherine agreed with a hint of a smile. "That's why we're here." Nick nodded, then paused.

"What can I do, Cath?" She chewed her bottom lip, staring at the sleeping woman for a long time.

"Why don't you take her for a drink?" she suggested. His head whipped up to frown at her.

"Seriously?" He asked, not sure whether this was an attempt at sarcasm or a genuine suggestion.

"Yeah." Cath nodded, swallowing. "If she hides herself away then she'll never get her confidence back. Why don't you offer to take her out somewhere? Somewhere quiet."

Nick seemed to consider this for a moment. "I could ask Greg too. He really wants to see her." Cath smiled, glad to have given him a sense of purpose.

"Yeah. I'm sure she wants to see him too."

X x x

Having migrated into the bedroom, Warrick landed ungracefully on his back on the unmade bed. His gaze fell instinctively on the little bottle of pills on the table. With a groan, he threw an arm over his face.

In the darkness, all he could see were the DNA results flashing before his eyes. The confusing jumble of numbers, his personal code, running through his mind.

X x x

"Hey, I'm glad I caught you." Nick jogged down the hall, catching Greg by the back of the sleeve. The trainee blinked at him, startled.

"What's up?" He asked suspiciously.

"I went to see Catherine last night; she suggested I take Sara out somewhere. Just for a drink, you know?" The Texan started, following Greg into the locker room.

"You went to Cath's?" He cut his colleague off. "Did you see Sara?"

Nick shrugged. "Briefly. She was asleep." He shook his head, getting back on track. "Anyway, Catherine thinks that it would be good if we get Sara out of the house for a little while."

"But, how was she?" Greg continued animatedly, feeling slightly put-out that Nick had been the first one to visit his best friend. Nick shook his head, holding his hands up in a failed effort to calm the man.

"She's fine Greg, like I said she was asleep." He insisted. "Now, I wanted to ask you if you wanted in?"

"In what?" Greg blinked at him. Nick rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his hips.

"Do you want to take Sara out somewhere today?"

"Oh." Greg realised, catching up. "Oh, yeah, of course!"

"Alright." Nick chuckled, pulling out his cell. "I'll call her."

X x x

"Hey." Cath smiled, sauntering into Sara's room. The brunette blinked up at her, stirring from her nap. "Sorry, I didn't know you were asleep." Catherine apologised, settling beside her on the bed. Sara shook her head.

"It's okay." She promised with a sleepy smile. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Cath shrugged, toying with the edge of the blanket. "I just wanted to see how you were holding up." Sara sat upright, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm alright." She nodded thoughtfully. "You know, one day at a time."

"Yeah." Cath agreed softly. "Well, maybe you could go out somewhere. Go see some friends? It might help to get out of the house."

"No, I'm okay." Sara mumbled. "I don't think I can put up with the sympathetic looks right now."

Cath sighed, taking her hand. This was going to be harder than she'd hoped. "Honey, you can't hide yourself away forever. It's not going away."

"I know." Sara shrugged. "I just don't know if I'm ready."

"Well, it's your choice." Catherine said, placing a kiss on her temple. "But the longer you leave it the harder it'll be." She stood up to leave, turning to add a final comment. "Your phones ringing." Sara opened her mouth to negate this but before she could speak, her phone began to vibrate on the bedside table. Catherine just smiled at her, slipping out to allow her some privacy. Sara stared after the woman for a moment in bafflement before answering her call.

"Hello." She said cautiously.

"Hey, Sara. It's Nick." He said, as if she wouldn't recognise his accent.

"Hey." She greeted with a soft smile, relaxing when she figured how Catherine had suddenly turned psychic.

"Hey, erm, how are you?" It seemed like a stupid question but she'd been expecting it.

"I'm okay. Catherine's taking good care of me." She could practically sense the strawberry-blonde's ear burning at the mention of her name. She would probably be stood outside the door waiting to hear whether Sara would ask Nick out somewhere.

"Good." Nick chuckled. In the background Sara could hear Greg's voice and Nick telling him to 'shut up, I'm asking her'.

"Asking me what?" She smiled. A nervous laugh bubbled down the phone.

"Erm, well Greggo and I were wondering whether you would like to go out … somewhere." He started gently. Sara's eyes flew to the door where Catherine had departed. Never mind Sara asking Nick, the blonde had already taken care of that! "I mean, you don't have to … it's up to you, but if you want to then… we're here." She could practically hear Nick's heart pounding through his shirt, he was that nervous. She wondered if he could hear hers.

A part of her wanted to see the boys. Another part wanted to hide away for all eternity.

With Catherine's words replaying in her mind, she took a deep breath.

"I'd like that." She said slowly. She heard Nick and Greg exhale in unison.

"Great, that's great!" He managed to chirp before Greg's voice appeared.

"Hey, I've missed you." He said instantly. She could picture his dark brown eyes and cheeky grin, an image which brought a bright smile to her own face.

"I've missed you too."


	11. Chapter 11

**Bit down at the moment so apologies if updates take a bit longer than normal, my muse has taken a hike : (  
><strong>

**x x x x**

"You've got my home number if anything happens?" She already knew the answer but asked anyway. Again. Nick laughed, slinging an arm around the frenzied blonde's shoulders.

"Yes Cath, we've got your number." He assured her, exchanging amused glances with Greg.

"Okay." She nodded, exhaling slowly. "I just don't want to rush her. Maybe this was a bad idea…"

"Catherine, she'll be fine." Nick promised, tugging her closer to his body. "We're just going for lunch. She'll be perfectly safe."

"I'm not worried about her getting hurt." Catherine frowned. "I'm just scared that she might not be ready for it yet. I don't want to distress her anymore."

"Well, we'll make sure she knows that she can come home at any time." Greg assured her. "She'll tell us if she wants to leave."

"No she won't." Cath retorted sceptically. She released a breath, trying to calm herself. She speculated that right now she was probably more nervous than Sara herself. "Alright, when she's anxious she tends to crack her knuckles." She explained thoughtfully. "And she'll avoid eye contact at all cost. Oh, and she'll do anything to change the subject."

"Alright." Nick nodded, trying to disguise his amusement. Cath narrowed her eyes at him.

"What?" She asked when she noticed his lips twitching into a smile despite his best efforts. Unable to contain it anymore, he burst out laughing.

"It's just … she's only been here a couple of days and it's like you've been living with her for years. You've already got her sussed."

"Yeah, well. I've had to learn fast." She pointed out with a sigh. "She's putting on a front but she's still very fragile underneath it all."

Just as she finished speaking, Sara appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a shy smile.

"Hey, Sara." Greg greeted warmly, instantly going over to her. He hesitated for just a second before wrapping her in a gentle hug. "I've missed you." He mumbled into her hair. She leant into him slightly before stepping out of the embrace.

"Hey sweetie." Nicky grinned at her, having materialised beside them. He placed a kiss on her cheek, wrapping one arm around her waist in a protective movement. "You ready to go?"

"Uh huh." She nodded, sharing a small smile with Catherine. The blonde wandered over and pulled her into a brief hug, using the chance the whisper something in her ear before releasing her back to the boys.

"Have fun." She called after them as they filed out; sending a silent prayer to anyone who was listening that this hadn't been a big mistake.

X x x

"So..." Nick said for the tenth time. "Catherine's taking good care of you huh?"

"Yeah, she's been really great." Sara agreed softly, pushing her food around her plate in deep thought.

"How's Lindsey?" Greg asked between bites of his burger. "I bet she's glad to have you staying."

"I've only seen her briefly, Cat asked Nancy to take her for a few days." Sara answered, absently lifting her gaze to stare across the park. "I think she's scared that too much excitement is going to freak me out."

Nick and Greg exchanged a look of concern over her seeming lack of interest in the conversation.

"Hey, have you noticed that you're the only one who can get away with calling her 'Cat'?" Nick babbled suddenly, acquiring a falsely bright tone to his voice. "Whenever I try it I get my head bitten off. And I know Warrick doesn't dare…"

His brown eyes widened and his jaw fell open when it dawned on him what he'd said. Greg kicked him under the table, scowling at his colleague. Sara, noticing their sudden silence, swung her gaze lazily to meet theirs.

"You can talk about it you know." She mumbled. "I'm not going to fall to pieces."

Nick bit his lip, swallowing a tight smile.

"Yeah, we know." He said softly. "We just didn't know whether you'd want to talk about it or not."

"I don't." Sara shrugged, looking up and taking a deep breath. "But if I don't it'll eat away at me." There was a long moment of silence before Greg cleared his throat, getting her attention.

"Alright." He murmured. "Well, you can talk to us about it." She met his brown eyes, always so filled with compassion and kindness.

"What's going to happen to Warrick?" It was a question she had wanted to ask Catherine but the blonde seemed so intent on not upsetting her that to bring the subject up might send her into overdrive.

"We haven't been told anything." Nick said, shuffling uncomfortably on the hard wooden seat. Sara gave him a look.

"Come on Nicky," she pleaded. "I know someone's mentioned it. What's going on?" The Texan shared an uncertain look with his younger male companion before relenting under Sara's impassioned stare.

"Alright, as far as I know Ecklie's letting you call the shots." He said at last. "If you don't want to work with him any more then he'll either get moved to a different shift or…"

"Fired." She finished softly.

"Yeah." He nodded, swallowing hard.

"What do you guys want?"

"Hey, it's not our call." Nick held up his hands. He'd been warned by enough people not to pass his anger at Warrick onto Sara; he knew better than to answer that question honestly.

"Yeah, we wouldn't blame you no matter what you choose." Greg added.

"That's not what I asked." Sara pointed out with a small smile. "What do you want to happen?"

"We want you to be happy." Greg said quietly. "To feel safe."

"Yeah." Nick agreed, reaching out to grip her hands over the table. "Either way, what he did to you is going to affect us all. We're not going to trust him near you." He searched her hazel eyes, trying to ensure his message was fully understood. "We're going to protect you; we'll make sure he never hurts you again. So, all that really matters is whether you trust him enough to still work with him."

X x x

Catherine was almost surprised when they arrived back in good spirits. She'd had one eye on her phone all afternoon, in case Sara had wanted to come home. She'd told her to text her if it got too much and she'd call the boys with some reason why they had to bring her back.

But it had been silent, and judging by the brunette's bright smile she'd been right about getting out of the house. It had clearly done her some good.

"Hey, you have a good time?" She asked, wandering onto the front porch when she heard them pull up. It struck her that that was the exact same thing she asked Lindsey when she came in from her friends' houses.

"Yeah, thanks." Sara said, turning to give the boys a hug. "Thank you, I needed that." She mumbled to them gratefully. Greg held onto her for a moment longer, before finally letting her go and sloping down the steps towards Nick's jeep.

"Went well then?" Cath probed softly as they watched the car pull out and disappear down the road.

"Yeah." Sara mumbled with a contented smile, leaning against the porch railing. "It … it helped."

Catherine scrutinised her for a minute. There was still clearly something on her mind, but she looked genuinely happier.

"Good." The older woman whispered at last, going back into the house and leaving Sara to her thoughts as she stared down the quiet road.

X x x

"Can you do me a favour?" Sara asked tentatively after dinner.

"Of course." Cath responded instantly. "Name it." Sara chewed her lip anxiously.

"Can you call Ecklie and tell him that I've made up my mind." Catherine stopped what she was doing and turned to face her, attempting to disguise her surprise. She tried to scan Sara's expression but the brunette had her gaze trained determinedly on the kitchen table.

"Okay." She drawled at last, sliding into the seat opposite. "And?"

"I don't want things to change." Sara rushed out, flashing a brief glance up before casting her eyes back down. "I don't want to break the team up."

"Alright." Cath nodded, catching onto her meaning. "Are you sure; you know that you don't have to make this decision now."

"I know." Sara mumbled. "But it's the right one." She stopped, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. When she finally started talking again her voice was quiet and vulnerable, just like it had been at the hospital that first night. "It wasn't Warrick. Not really." Cath's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" She asked uncertainly, subtly slithering into the seat next to her.

"He was … different. It was like he was a completely different person." The stubborn strand of hair fell into her face again but this time when she went to brush it away Catherine beat her to it. "I knew it was him, but it was like somebody else had taken over him."

"Well, drugs can do that to you." Cath mumbled knowingly.

"Exactly." Sara said, meeting her puzzled gaze. "He would never normally have done that. You guys didn't believe it was true."

Catherine opened her mouth to answer but stopped, not knowing how to phrase it. Sara obviously understood her hesitation and offered a shrug.

"It's okay. I almost began to think I'd imagined it myself." She assured Cath. "But I know that's not really who he is. He only did what he did because of what he was taking. And he won't do it again."

"You don't know that honey." Catherine pointed out softly.

"No." Sara conceded. "But I have to believe it." She swallowed, considering her next words carefully. "You said that you're like my family … and you are. All of you – including Warrick." Cath slipped her hand into Sara's, silently offering comfort while she spoke. "I want him to get help. To clean himself up. But I don't want to lose my family."


	12. Chapter 12

Warrick stumbled blindly to the door, swinging it open without bothering to check who was behind it. Unfortunately, when he set eyes on his guest, he soon came to regret it.

"Oh, no." He groaned, running a hand over his face. "What now?"

Grissom looked him up and down before letting himself into the flat uninvited.

"I need to talk to you." He announced, surveying the filthy apartment before deciding it was safer to remain standing.

"About what?" Warrick moaned, shuffling into the kitchen and helping himself to a beer. Gil quirked an eyebrow at his actions but chose to let it lie … for the time being at least.

"Work." He stated bluntly. Warrick's green eyes flicked to his boss's face, scanning it for a second for clues before curiosity got the best of him and he nodded for Gil to continue. "Sara's decided she doesn't want to split up the team."

"So…" Warrick frowned, trying to get his head around this new information despite the hazy fog clouding his mind. "I can stay?"

"Yes, you can stay." Grissom exhaled, although it was clear that he was less than thrilled at this outcome. "However," he continued before Warrick could begin to celebrate this revelation. "You're going to have to make some serious lifestyle changes. Starting with that." He reached over and took the beer bottle from Warrick's hands, eliciting a surprised stammer from the man. Warrick seemed about to counter this but one dark look from his supervisor stopped him.

"Alright." He nodded at last, straightening up.

"You're going to need to talk to Ecklie about how much rehab he wants you to have before you can come back."

"Rehab?" Warrick repeated, blinking. "No way."

"Way." Grissom contradicted solemnly, stepping closer to his colleague. "Sara's giving you a second chance here Warrick, don't screw it up again." Warrick searched his eyes, finding only cold detachment in place of the usual loyalty and trust. He dropped his head, tears starting to build up despite his best efforts to blink them back. After what felt like an age of silence, he lifted his gaze to meet Grissom's hard look.

"I won't." He stated, his voice suddenly hoarse with sincerity. "I promise."

X x x

"Are you sure about this?" Catherine repeated for the tenth time since they got into the car. Sara turned in her seat to smile at her.

"I'm sure." She assured her. "I want to do this." Catherine scrutinised her face for a long moment before nodding.

"Okay." She said, swinging the car door open and stepping out into the empty parking lot. Sara followed suit, her dark eyes searching the area, as if trying to re-familiarise herself. Catherine had noticed her doing that a lot lately; and she couldn't help but wonder what the world looked like to her now.

"You know," she said softly as they ambled their way to the front doors, "you can change your mind at any time."

"I know." Sara nodded, never tearing her gaze from the large stone building where they were headed. The sun reflected off the mirrored front doors, casting a shard of light across the parking lot.

At the top of the steps she reached out to open the door, when it swung suddenly towards them as someone came outside. Sara visibly jumped, startled by the unexpected movement. Catherine threw her hand out and gripped her arm tightly, turning to glare at the person exiting the building.

"Jesus Jim." She sighed. Brass looked between the two women in bemusement for a moment before he realised what he'd done. Or, more significantly, who he'd done it to.

"Hey, welcome back stranger." He greeted Sara warmly, sending Cath an apologetic smile as he reached out to pull the brunette into a hug. She returned his embrace tightly before stepping back and purposefully sliding closer to Catherine.

"Is Ecklie in yet?" Cath asked, loosely taking Sara's hand in her own and squeezing it gently.

"Yeah, he came in early." Jim nodded, stepping aside for them to pass by. "You coming back to work?" He queried with a frown.

"Hopefully." Sara grinned shyly as she shuffled inside. Jim watched them go, catching Catherine's eye and sharing a doubtful look with the blonde. She, like him, clearly agreed that it was too soon.

But they both knew Sara well enough to save their breath.

X x x

Conrad sighed, tossing his pen onto the desk. He'd come in early to get some work done before his meeting today but he just couldn't concentrate. Paperwork, responsibility, endless press conferences – he'd been prepared for all of that: he'd not, however, anticipated having to deal with stuff like this when he'd accepted that promotion.

A soft knock at his door shattered his thoughts and he grunted a response. To his surprise, it was Catherine who poked her head inside.

"Hey Conrad." She greeted. "You got a few minutes?"

He checked his watch but before he could answer his breath hitched and he stopped short of speaking. Catherine had tugged Sara into the room and the brunette was glancing around herself nervously. She caught his eye and offered a weak smile.

"Oh." Was all that he could mutter. He hurriedly began moving papers around on his desk while he tried to think of a solution on his feet.

"What's wrong?" Catherine asked, noticing her boss' panic.

"It's just…" he started, but he never got chance to finish.

"Sara?" A deep voice from behind pulled their attention to the door, where Warrick was staring at the brunette with wide eyes. Sara instinctively stepped back until she collided with Catherine's body. The blonde wrapped an arm tightly around her, guiding her towards the door.

"Never mind, we'll come back." She muttered to Ecklie as she attempted to guide the shell-shocked Sara out of the room. Warrick at least had the decency to step aside, never tearing his startled gaze from Sara's.

"Brown." Ecklie barked, already moving across his office. "Sit down, I'll be back." He abandoned the dark-skinned man and scuttled hurriedly after the women.

"Catherine!" He hollered, jogging down the hall to catch them up. "Wait," They stopped, with Sara still firmly locked into Catherine's grip. A few lab rats had noticed their colleague's unexpected reappearance and were watching from a distance with badly disguised curiosity.

"Why's he here?" Cath asked through gritted teeth as she turned to face the lab director.

"I asked him to come. I wanted to talk to him about how everything's going to work." He gestured to Sara, whose pale face and wide eyes still make her look like she'd just witnessed a resurrection. "Can we go somewhere quiet?" Cath pursed her lips and nodded towards her office, having already been leading Sara in that direction anyway. Ecklie turned, catching the gaze of Hodges, who attempted feebly to look busy but didn't quite carry it off in time. "Get her a glass of water." He barked at the caught-out lab rat.

"I'll get it." Wendy piped up before he could respond, already scuttling down the hallway.

By the time he entered Catherine's office she had already gotten Sara sat down and was perched in front of her on the edge of the desk, one hand protectively placed on the brunette's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He started straight off. "If I'd known you were coming in today I wouldn't have had him here."

"It's fine." Cath mumbled, although she was clearly ticked off at having been kept out of the loop with regards to this matter. "We just came in to see about Sara coming back to work, but I think under the circumstances…"

"I still want to come back." Sara piped up, cutting her off mid-sentence. Ecklie wandered around so he was facing her properly.

"Okay." He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm going to recommend to Warrick that he go through at least two weeks of rehab before he can come back to work and then he'll have to continue for at least six months after that." He explained. "So, if you're ready to come back now then you'll have two weeks before he's back … unless you want longer? Nothing's set in stone yet."

"No." she murmured, staring into her lap. "Two weeks is fine."

There was a soft knock at the door and Wendy poked her head inside tentatively.

"Hey, I've brought a drink for her." She held up the glass of water as proof. Ecklie nodded for her to enter and used the opportunity to drag Catherine to the farthest corner of the room, out of earshot.

"What do you think?" He asked, one eye on Sara as Wendy crept over and handed her the glass.

"I think this is what she wants." Catherine exhaled. "And you know as well as I do that I can't stop her."

"Okay." He chewed his lip, understanding her meaning. "Alright, she can come back. As long as she works with you, at least for the time being. That way you can keep an eye on her."

"Alright." Cath agreed, sending a sly glance Sara's way. "I'm sure she'll be fine with that."

X x x

Wendy watched the two supervisors move across the room and took that to mean that as an invitation to approach Sara. The brunette didn't appear to have noticed her, so she cleared her throat softly as she slinked up behind. Sara turned, offering a small smile when she realised who it was.

"Here, I thought you might need it." She said softly, holding out the drink. Sara took it gratefully, taking a long sip. Since Catherine and Ecklie were still occupied, Wendy took the opportunity to talk to the girl a bit longer and settled herself where Catherine had been, leaning against the desk. "So, how have you been?" She asked, instantly feeling stupid for asking such an obvious question.

"I'm okay." Sara shrugged. "Getting there. I just wasn't expecting to see him here." She swallowed hard. "It's not going to be as easy as I thought."

"You know we're all here for you." The DNA tech promised, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder. To her relief, Sara leant into the contact.

"Yeah, thank you." She whispered. Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy saw the others heading back and quickly wrapped Sara in a loose hug before shuffling quietly back out of the room.

"Okay," Ecklie started, returning to his nervous habit of flexing his knuckles. "You can come back, but you're going to be Catherine's charge." The blonde flashed Sara a cheeky grin, nudging her gently. "She's going to stick by your side like glue. So if you need anything, she'll be there."

Sara contemplated telling them that she didn't need a babysitter, but the thought of constantly having Catherine by her side was a comforting idea and so she kept quiet and simply nodded her agreement. Judging by the looks on their faces they had expected her to put up more or a fight but neither mentioned it.

"Okay. Good." Ecklie nodded briskly, standing up straight. "Well, I'd better go and deal with him." He sidled to the door, halting for a second to look back at the women. Catherine had leant forward and wrapped Sara in a hug. The brunette had somehow managed to curl herself into Catherine's body, nestling into the crook of her neck. He smiled tightly, shaking his head slowly at them.

Something told him that the two of them working in such close quarters could backfire on him … one way or another.


	13. Chapter 13

**Is not my best work by any means but I tried to add a few cute scenes. Hope you like it, sorry for the long wait x**

**x x x x**

Sara started at the soft knock at her door. She turned to where Catherine was poking her head inside.

"Hey." The blonde greeted her warmly, pushing her way into the room with a tray of food. "I wasn't expecting you to be up."

"Couldn't sleep." Sara shrugged, going back to staring sadly at her reflection in the mirror. She felt, rather than saw Cath place the tray on the bed and come up behind her. An arm wrapped around her shoulders from behind and Catherine placed a kiss on her cheek.

"You alright sweetie?" She asked, nuzzling the side of her face affectionately.

"Yeah." Sara mumbled, leaning back into the embrace. "I just didn't realise it was going to be this hard."

"You know, you don't have to do this." Cath murmured against her ear, peppering another kiss against her skin. "No one will think any less of you if you want to take more time." Sara turned in her chair, leaning against Catherine's chest.

"I know, but if I put it off any longer I'll never go back." She sighed softly, before adding in a stronger voice. "I want to go back. I guess I'm just scared."

"It's okay to be scared, honey." Cath assured her, sliding around to perch on the edge of the dresser. Sara released a soft sigh at the loss of physical contact, but it was soon absolved when she felt a gentle hand running through her hair. "I'm going to be right by your side. If it's too much you just tell me." Sara glanced up, sinking into her compassionate gaze.

"I will." She promised quietly. Catherine smiled down at her for a long minute before standing upright and clearing her throat, suddenly feeling awkward.

"Try to eat something." She gestured to the tray she had brought in. "It'll make you feel better." Sara nodded, although she had little appetite and they both knew it. Cath ran a hand briefly over her shoulder as she headed to the door. She paused in the threshold, casting a glance back at her despondent friend. Shaking her head sadly, she called out softly. "Hey Sar,"

The brunette turned, waiting expectantly. Catherine opened her mouth to continue but whatever words she'd had died on her tongue. Instead what came out surprised them both, but managed to bring a small smile to Sara's lips.

"You look beautiful."

X x x

Sara took a deep breath before swinging the door open. The setting sun reflected off the mirrored doors, casting a beam of bright light across the empty waiting area. Judy looked up, a cheerful smile gracing her face.

"Welcome back Miss Sidle." She chirped. Sara smiled back nervously, searching for something to say back. Saving her from her speechlessness, she felt a warm hand press into the small of her back, encouraging her to keep walking.

Into the hallway, despite the fact that there were more people around, no one approached her. Some people started to, but must have spotted the warning glares that Catherine was firing off and opted, rather sensibly, to steer clear.

All bar one, naturally.

Sara visibly jumped when Hodges appeared in front of them with his innate smug grin on his face. Catherine's arm shot out, instinctively blocking his path to Sara. She felt the brunette inch closer to her despite the knowledge that there was no threat here.

"Sara, good to have you back," David commented, actually managing to sound genuine.

"Thanks Hodges." She breathed, relaxing a little.

"David." Catherine said in a clipped tone. "Move." The lab rat's face fell and he shuffled aside bashfully, letting them pass.

Sara tried to bite back a smile as Catherine frogmarched her into her office and shut the door, making a point of drawing the blinds down.

"You know, I can still talk to people." Sara commented wryly. Cath cleared her throat, moving to stand in front of her, gesturing to the couch.

"I know. But first, we need ground rules." Sara narrowed her eyes suspiciously but sat down all the same. Cath joined her and shuffled for a second before continuing. "First of all, you don't talk to anyone about what happened." Her voice was soft but firm. "That's what your counsellors for. If people have questions, they're going to have to keep them to themselves."

"Okay." Sara nodded. She had no intention of talking about it anyway, be it to a counsellor or anyone else.

"Good. Secondly, you are going to stick by my side like glue. I want you within my line of sight at all times; clear?"

"Crystal." Sara said sarcastically. Cath narrowed her eyes at her, a smile tugging at her lips. "Anything else?"

"If I think of anything I'll let you know." Catherine smiled sweetly. She took a deep breath, giving Sara a once over. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sara assured her, pushing herself off the couch. Cath stood up as well, giving her a brief hug before taking her hand, swinging the door open and heading back into the bustling lab.

X x x

"Ahem." Grissom cleared his throat, waiting for his team to settle down. He locked eyes briefly with Sara, sending her a comforting wink and receiving a small smile in acknowledgement.

"What have you got for us, boss?" Greg asked, a bright smile back on his face for the first time in weeks.

"You and Nick are going to Henderson. A dumpster truck has been spitting out body parts … enjoy." He grinned, holding out the folder to the less than thrilled Texan.

"Yay." He mocked, slapping Greg's shoulder. "You like jigsaw puzzles, Greggo?"

"Have fun guys." Cath chuckled. Once the boys had departed, Sara looked between her two bosses expectantly.

"So…" she pressed. Grissom cleared his throat again, silently handing her the file. She happily accepted it, scanning the case brief.

"You know, if this gets too much you can stop." He said softly, interrupting her concentration.

"I know." She mumbled, sending a sly glance in Catherine's direction. "I've been told."

Cath pursed her lips, hiding a smile. Grissom frowned at their cryptic looks but nodded all the same.

"Okay then." He said, swinging his gaze between them. "I'll get the car."


	14. Chapter 14

"So," Nick broke the silence, placing a mug of coffee in front of his boss and sitting down beside her. "How's our girl doing?"

"She's alright." The strawberry blonde shrugged, tossing her magazine aside and taking a long sip of her drink. She grimaced at the foul taste and nudged the cup away. Nick frowned, not liking her cryptic answer to his question. When she noticed his look she sighed and turned to him to elaborate. "She's still kind of … spaced out."

"Spaced out?" Nick repeated, not following.

"Yeah, sometimes she just drifts into her own little world." Cath rested her head on her hand, propped up on the countertop and a thoughtful look crossed her face. "I just wish I knew what was going through her head. Then at least I could try to help her." Nick smiled sympathetically, reaching out to lay a comforting hand on her arm.

"Hey, you are helping." He pointed out softly.

"Yeah, sure." Cath scoffed, automatically reaching out for her coffee before remembering why she moved it away from her. She settled for spinning the mug between her hands just to avoid meeting the Texan's gaze.

"I'm serious." He continued, attempting to meet her gaze. "You and I both know Sara: if you weren't helping her do you think she'd still be letting you take care of her?"

Catherine didn't answer, and after a long moment of her silence Nick gave up and took his drink outside for some fresh air.

But Cath had to admit that the man had a point.

X x x

By the time Catherine eventually found Sara, it was nearly the end of shift and the brunette was already in the locker room.

"Hey, I've been looking for you."

Sara looked up and smiled. "Well, now you've found me." She countered, instinctively going to unholster her weapon before realising that it wasn't there. She was still jumpy and they had decided that it would be best for everyone's safety if she wasn't carrying, just for the time being.

"Yeah, I have." Cath cleared her throat, buying time while she worked out what she was going to say. Sara must have noticed her discomfort because she sent her an odd look.

"You okay?" She asked, leaning against her locker to give Cath her full attention.

"That's meant to be my question." The older CSI pointed out. Sara responded with a half-smile, but waited for an answer all the same. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay." Sara frowned. No sentence that started with those words had ever ended well, at least not in her experiences. Catherine pursed her lips, glancing around the small room. Her gaze finally settled on the bench.

"Look, sit down." She gripped Sara's sides, guiding her onto the bench. "Alright, please, listen to me."

"I don't like where this is going." Sara scowled suspiciously. Cath laughed nervously, grabbing her hand in an effort to offer some comfort.

"It's nothing bad." She promised. "I just wanted to talk to you about coming back to work. I think it's too soon."

"I'm fine." Sara jumped in before she could continue. "I just..."

"Honey, you froze up." Cath cut her off gently. "You jumped every time someone got too close. You're not ready for this."

"I want to stay." Sara mumbled, fixing Catherine with a pleading look. The supervisor released a sigh, scanning the desperate expression of the girl in front of her.

"Maybe you're just not ready to be back in the field yet." She offered as a compromise. "How about a few nights in the lab, just to get some of your confidence back?"

Sara opened her mouth to contest but the look on Catherine's face told her it wasn't worth it. She'd already made up her mind on this one and if there was one thing Sara had learnt from staying with Cath it was to pick your battles wisely.

"Alright." She conceded at last, albeit reluctantly. "A few days."

"Good girl." Cath praised quietly. They shared a minute of thoughtful silence, which was finally broken by her husky voice. "Sar, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Sara shrugged despondently.

"Why have you stayed with me?" She looked up, a hurt look flashing across her face. When Catherine realised how that must have sounded to the brunette she quickly backtracked, sliding closer on the bench so she could wrap an arm around her back. "I … I didn't mean it like that; you're welcome to stay as long as you want."

"Okay." Sara nodded uncertainly, not following the other woman's train of thought.

"I just wanted to know why you've stayed this long."

"I didn't know I had a choice." Sara blinked. A soft frown embedded itself in Catherine's face.

"Of course you do." She shook her head in bemusement. "I'm not going to keep you against your will. I was just … curious."

"Well, I like being around you." Sara shrugged nervously, suddenly becoming unusually interested in her shoes. "But I can go home anytime, just say the word…"

"No, no." Cath shushed her, tugging her closer. "I want you to stay. I just wanted to make sure that you want to stay."

"I do." Sara smiled. Catherine matched her expression, letting their heads fall together.

"Good." She murmured, nuzzling Sara's face and letting her hand creep around the young woman's waist.

They were so wrapped up in their tender moment; both remained oblivious to Nick smiling fondly at them from the threshold.

X x x

With Lindsey at school, the house was so quiet when they got inside. Sara instantly made for the stairs, but Catherine's voice held her back.

"You want to talk?" She asked. It was a common question between them; Cath had discovered that the easiest way to get the frustratingly enigmatic woman to open up was simply to ask her.

This morning, however, it was not going to work. She knew that something was on the brunette's mind because she'd been silent the whole way home. But she simply shook her head and shuffled upstairs. Catherine watched her go with a concerned sigh.

She considered going after her, but decided to leave her be. If she wanted to talk then she would come to her.

Stretching, she opted to take a hot shower, check on her guest and then crawl into bed.

Some sleep would do them both some good anyway.

X x x

Cath nudged the bathroom door open with her foot, shuffling into her bedroom while simultaneously tying her robe and drying her hair. She tossed the towel onto the bed, noticing for the first time that she had a visitor.

Sara was curled on her side at the foot of the bed, one arm tucked awkwardly under her head. Cath pursed her lips, shaking her head softly.

"Awe honey," she mumbled, kneeling down beside her friend. "You wanted to talk to me, huh?" She guessed, running her fingers through Sara's silky hair. She pushed herself back up and dragged a blanket over the sleeping form.

Leaving her to doze, Cath wandered over to her drawers and started pulling out clothes.

X x x

Sara blinked. The room was the wrong way around.

Before her hazy vision could clear, Catherine wandered into her line of sight. Sara blinked again, taken aback by the image of the blonde sliding out of a bathrobe, her golden hair dripping down her naked back. She picked up a t-shirt and slipped it over her head, shaking her hair out.

Sara attempted to sit up, mumbling something indistinguishable in an attempt to get Cath's attention. The blonde turned, surprised by the noise behind her.

"Hey." She smiled softly, straightening her t-shirt out and walking back over to the bed. Sara attempted a smile as Cath knelt down beside her, helping her to sit up. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Sara shrugged tiredly. Cath scrutinised her face for a moment.

"Did you want to talk to me?" She pressed gently. Sara frowned.

"Yeah … but I can't remember what about." A quiet laugh bubbled out of Catherine at Sara's perplexed expression. She reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Well, why don't you stay in here and if you remember you can let me know." She suggested softly. Before Sara could get her head around the request, she found herself tugged gently up the bed and covered in a blanket.

"It's okay, it can wait." She managed to stutter out, but her attempt to escape the bed was halted by Catherine's arm across her chest.

"Please, I'll feel better if you stay." Cath assured her, forcefully encouraging her to lay back into the pillows. It was true, she could sleep easier knowing that she was there if her friend needed to talk and something about her young colleague's demeanour suggested that she didn't really want to be alone right now, even if she couldn't admit it out loud.  
>Sara shuffled down, watching the blonde saunter around the room in her t-shirt and panties, seemingly without a care at being so exposed. She ran a brush through her hair briefly, before switching off the light and clambering into the bed beside Sara.<p>

The brunette stared at her expectantly in the lamplight, waiting for her to make the first move. Despite having spent a lot of time with her lately, this was the first time Sara had seen a different side of Catherine. She was so comfortable in her own skin; so easy in her movements.

Once under the covers, she shuffled until comfortable and then turned to Sara.

"You're memory come back yet?" She asked, her voice suddenly hoarse and low.

"No." Sara said slowly, still not sure what Catherine was planning. The older woman shrugged, offering a gentle smile.

"Well if it does, wake me up." She leant over and placed a kiss on Sara's cheek, before snuggling under the covers. Sara followed suit, albeit slowly. As she got laid down, she felt a pair of arms snake around her middle and hot breath on the back of her neck. The scent of Catherine's soap infiltrated her senses.

Sara inched backwards a little, letting Catherine tighten their embrace. After a long moment, she found her voice.

"I don't know what I want right now." She felt Catherine prop herself up on her elbow, but couldn't bear to meet her gaze. "My heads so messed up."

"I know, sweetie." Cath whispered, running a hand over Sara's arm. "It's going to take time to heal."

"I don't want to heal." Sara sulked. "I just want it all to go away."

"It will." Cath promised with a soft chuckle, leaning down to pepper kisses on her face. "While you heal."

Sara smiled tightly at her little joke. As small as it was, Catherine caught the movement and nudged her playfully under the covers.

"I saw that." She teased, leaning over her to place a chaste kiss on the corner of her lips.

**x x x x**

**Thought I'd leave you on a high note x**


	15. Chapter 15

A warm hand on the back of her neck startled her out of her thoughts.

"You're up early." Catherine commented, drifting around the table and sliding into the seat next to her.

"I'm thinking." Sara mumbled, resuming her position of staring at the table. Cath frowned at her thought sleep-filled eyes.

"Should I be worried?" She half-joked. A quiet laugh bubbled out of Sara.

"No, it's nothing like that." She promised, shaking her head. "I was just thinking about what we were talking about earlier." She licked her lips, taking her time. "I think it's time for me to go home."

Catherine's face fell as Sara's words registered.

"Oh. Okay." She whispered hoarsely, scratching the back of her head. "Um, are you sure?"

A tentative smile crept across Sara's lips. "Yeah, yeah I think I am." She nodded. "It's not that I don't appreciate everything you've done. You've been brilliant." She cleared her throat, nervously toying with her necklace. "I just feel like I need to get back on my feet. And this is the way to do it."

"Alright." Catherine nodded, taking a deep breath. "If that's what you want then we can do that."

"Thank you," Sara mumbled, feeling guilty at the knowledge that she had put the sad tone in her friend's voice. Cath sighed, swallowing her disappointment and reaching across the table to hold Sara's hands.

"You know, you can come back anytime. Even if you just need a night away, just let me know."

"Thanks," Sara smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Actually, there was something else I was going to ask."

"Okay, anything." Cath nodded eagerly, gripping her hand tighter.

"Well, I know myself." Sara started slowly. "And I know that if I go home I'll go back to my normal habits. So, I was thinking that maybe we could just go for breakfast once or twice a week? Just us."

"Sure." Catherine said slowly. Noticing her confusion, Sara attempted to explain.

"Normally if something's bothering me I tend to keep it to myself."

"I'd noticed." Cath hummed sarcastically.

"Well, my counsellor thought it might be helpful if I make time every week to … open up."

"You know, I think that's a great idea." Catherine murmured at last, a gentle smile creeping onto her lips. Sara matched her expression shyly, offering a small nod of appreciation. Cath inched her chair closer, allowing her to throw an arm around Sara's shoulders and letting their heads fall together. "You're going to be fine, sweetheart." She promised.

X x x

Warrick yawned, blindly pouring milk into his coffee. Today was the first of his rehab sessions and he wanted to be alert for it. He knew why he had to do this, but a part of him still resented Grissom for making him endure this humiliation. It was not in his nature to admit to his weaknesses.

And yet, it wasn't in Sara's either; but she'd managed to ask for help. He still couldn't bear to imagine what she must have gone through; it was painful just thinking about it.

Pushing the thought away, he took his coffee into his bedroom to finish getting dressed.  
>Staring at himself in the full-length mirror, he scowled at the figure staring back at him.<p>

Was a suit too much? He wanted to give the impression of someone who was in control of their life, but right now he looked like he was going to the dock. Sliding out of the jacket, he opted for just a shirt. That was smart enough, without being too much.

But what about a tie? Was a tie too much? Taking a deep, cleansing breath, he closed his eyes and counted to ten. Blinking back at his reflection, he made a snap decision.

No tie.

X x x

"You sure about this?" Catherine's hand stilled her own as she went to unlock her apartment.

"I'm sure." Sara assured her. It had struck her on the way over that this was the first time she had been back to her own home since before the attack. An irrational part of her was nervous, but mainly she just wanted to get her life back to normal.

The door unlocked with a soft click and she nudged it open, peeping inside. It looked just the same as when she had left it.

Her mail was in a neat pile on her counter – Nick had been checking in every couple of days to keep everything up to date. She made a mental note to make it up to him somehow.

"Do you have everything you need?" Catherine asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Sara said in a husky voice, her piercing gaze flashing around the apartment before finally settling on Catherine's uncertain expression. "I promise."

"Okay." The strawberry-blonde pursed her lips. "Well, I'll leave you to it." She walked around the kitchen counter to wrap Sara in a tight hug. "You call me if you want anything." She murmured against her friend's ear. "Anything at all."

"I will." Sara whispered, feeling tears spring to her eyes. She blinked them back as Catherine pressed a kiss to her cheek and released her. She departed quietly with a final sad wave and a warm smile.

Sara stared at the closed door for a whole minute, suddenly noticing the heavy silence for the first time.

X x x

He crushed the cigarette under his shoe anxiously; his third since arriving. It was a new habit he'd picked up, in place of the drugs.

They were waiting for him in there, waiting to tear him to shreds for being such a disgrace to society.

His hand automatically reached for the packet in his jacket pocket, but he managed to stop himself. He was going to have to face the music sooner or later, and he could stand out here and smoke all day but that wasn't going to get him back to work.

It wasn't going to win him back to respect of his friends either. He was doing this for them.

And for Sara.

Letting his hand fall back to his side he took and deep breath and, with his head held high, walked inside.

**x x x x**

**Updates should get faster next week. Next chapter, Warrick comes back to work ...**


	16. Chapter 16

"Sara!"

The brunette swung around at the high-pitched little voice just in time to get ambushed into a hug by the swift eleven-year old.

"Hey Linds." She greeted fondly, looking up to find a grinning Catherine Willows sashaying across the park towards her.

"She's missed you." The blonde smirked, finally reaching them.

"I can see that." Sara laughed, smiling down at the small child swinging off of her.

"When are you coming back?" Lindsey pouted sadly. Sara pursed her lips, glancing back up at Catherine for a little help. The blonde thankfully decided to take pity on her and carefully prised her daughter away from her colleague.

"We're going to the movies later; would you like to join us?" She changed the subject, holding Lindsey against her with one hand. Sara pretended to contemplate this for a moment while Lindsey squirmed in her mother's grip, before a small smile twitched at her lips.

"I'd love to." She grinned. Lindsey wriggled free from Catherine to wrap her arms around Sara's waist once again. Sara placed a hand on the child's shoulder, holding Catherine's gaze. "I just have one thing I need to do first."

Cath frowned softly, hinting for elaboration.

"I have a session with my counsellor. " She explained, absently running a hand through Lindsey's hair. Catherine noticed her easy movements but opted not to call her on it. It was too cute to watch.

"Ah." She nodded knowingly at Sara answer. "How is that going?"

"Good." Sara exhaled slowly. "Sometimes." At Catherine's half-smile she shrugged. "You know I'm not good at this sort of thing."

"Well, keep at it. It'll help in the long run." The older woman assured her.

"So they tell me." Sara rolled her eyes sarcastically. Cath nudged her playfully, retracting her daughter a second time.

"Call me when you're done and we'll meet you at the movies." She instructed. Sara nodded her consent, waving at an excited Lindsey while Cath attempted to move her in the opposite direction.

She hadn't realised until then how much she missed the little girl.

X x x

Despite the blatant stares he was receiving, Warrick kept his head held high as he walked through the maze of labs, never letting his gaze waver from staring straight ahead. Thankfully people seemed to be moving out of his way, so the path ahead was clear.

He knew what they were all thinking, but he was a new man now. He was clean, sober and calm. Clean, sober and calm.

His rehab counsellor had told him to keep thinking positively. He wasn't sure it was working.

Reaching his destination, where mercifully the lab rats were few and far between, he cleared his throat and rapped his knuckles on the door.

At the muted grunt he received, he pushed it open and peered inside. To his dismay as well as Grissom and Ecklie, Undersheriff Jeffrey McKeen had turned out for this meeting as well.

"Mr Brown, welcome back." McKeen greeted curtly. "Sit down." Warrick slunk across the room and did as asked, purposefully avoiding Grissom's piercing gaze as he did so.

"Alright Warrick, you know why you're here." Ecklie began, folding his arms across his chest. "We need a consult to make sure it's still alright for you to come back to work."

"I'm doing better." Warrick began, determined to get his view in before anyone else could. "I'm ready to come back."

"Well, it's not that simple." Jeffrey said, pacing around the desk behind Ecklie's back. "We need to know that you're not a threat to anyone." He threw a dark look at the CSI as he added, "Especially the women." Warrick rolled his eyes, taking a deep breath to cool his temper.

"Look, I know I messed up. But I've got help."

"Yes, I have your rehabilitation notes here." Conrad agreed, tapping the folder in front of him. "You're counsellor seems to agree that you're ready to return to work, providing you keep attending sessions with him."

"Okay." On the inside Warrick cringed; he hated that place with a passion. But on the outside he just nodded, the epitome of calm. It was how he had been instructed to react and Ecklie appeared impressed with his response.

"Good." He hummed. "Well, in that case I see no reason why you can't return to work." Warrick resisted the urge to celebrate – that was only round one.

Undersheriff McKeen strolled around the desk, hovering by the door. He turned to Warrick with a distasteful look.

"You will have to continue attending rehab." He started. "And report back to Mr Ecklie once a week as to any issues."

"Alright." Warrick agreed, albeit through gritted teeth. McKeen glowered at him.

"I hope you remember why you're here." He said darkly. "Miss Sidle is giving you a second chance; if it were up to me you'd be behind bars." Warrick lifted his gaze to meet the man's towering above him, but he didn't answer. There was nothing he could say to that would help his case.

Finally breaking the intense staring match, the Undersheriff left, making a point to slam the door on his way out. As the silence settled back over the room Ecklie turned to Grissom, who hadn't moved from where he was leaning against the filing cabinets at the back of the room.

"You've been quiet Gil." He pointed out. "Any objections to this?" Grissom pursed his lips, walking slowly across the room.

"It's what Sara wants." He said at last. "So no, I don't have any objections."

"Good." Conrad nodded, giving Warrick a final once over before dismissing him with a wave of the hand. "Get to work, I'll have some papers for you to sign later."

Outside the office, Warrick turned to his boss with a grateful smile.

"Gil, man … I got to say…"

"Don't." Grissom cut him off abruptly. "Get ready for work, I'll see you in the break room." He made to leave but paused long enough to look his subordinate up and down. "And change out of that suit; you're going to a crime scene not court." With that he disappeared down the hallway, leaving Warrick to stare after him in dismay.

X x x

You know how at school reunions, when you walk into the room and your first thought is how much everything has changed since you last saw these people. But after ten minutes, it's like you've stepped back in time and everything is as it was ten years ago.

Perhaps it was asking too much, but he'd almost expected it to be like that. There were be some awkwardness, but soon he would be bickering with his best friend about which sports team is better, and so on.

The second he entered the break room, that dream went up in flames.

"Aw hell no." Nick started, launching to his feet.

"Nick." Grissom warned.

"No! I'm not working with him." The Texan whined, pointing at the newly returned CSI. "We're not working with him! Am I right?" He turned to Greg for support. Although the former lab rat didn't answer, his dark look spoke volumes.

"Nick, this is what Sara wants." Grissom pointed out coolly. "We all have to move past this."

"After what he did? I don't think so!"

"It's alright Griss, I get it." Warrick shrugged sadly as he turned to leave.

Unfortunately it was bad timing all around as he walked straight into Sara. Out of instinct he reached out to catch the brunette before she could fall.

Sara's face paled as she realised who she'd collided with, but before she could form a reaction a pair of hands latched onto her sides and firmly extracted her from Warrick's grip.

Catherine guided the shell-shocked woman around him into the break room, uttering a forced thanks as she passed him.

"You alright?" Nick jumped in instantly, sending a glare in Warrick's direction.

"I'm fine." Sara murmured, slinking over to the counter beside Greg. He inched closer, letting her lean against him while the colour returned to her face.

"I'm telling you Gil, if he stays then I'm going." Nick continued, waving his hands at Warrick. The dark-skinned man was still lingering in the doorway, eyeing Sara closely. He had been on his way to leave but the appearance of the young woman halted his movements – he wanted to talk to her before he went anywhere.

"Enough, Nick!" Grissom barked harshly. The room fell silent, surprised by the outburst. "Alright, boys you're working with Warrick."

"No I'm not." Nicky snorted. Greg folded his arms, a silent form of defiance.

"I will." A soft voice mumbled from the back of the room.

Everyone, including Warrick, turned in shock to the source. Sara lifted her gaze, meeting Warrick's green eyes for the first time since the scene in the hospital. "I'll work with him." She repeated, firmly this time.

"Alright." Grissom said slowly. "Catherine, you too."

"Yeah." She nodded, avoiding eye contact with Warrick as she reached out a hand, waiting for Sara to take it. "We'll meet you at the car."

Once the girls left, Nick whirled on the shocked Warrick.

"You lay one hand on her …"

"Enough, Nick." Grissom said again. "He'll behave – won't you, Warrick." It wasn't a question and Warrick didn't stick around to answer it.

X x x

"Are you going to sulk all night?" Greg asked after a long half-hour of working in silence. Nick looked up, scowling at the younger CSI.

"I just can't believe they're letting him back, after everything he's done." He brooded. Greg, who had fallen into a somewhat subdued state, merely shrugged.

"If Sara's willing to work with him after what happened, surely we can suck it up and deal with it." He pointed out. Nick sighed, walking around the car they were searching to where Greg was.

"I can't work with him, man." He insisted. "I can't even look at him."

"Well you're going to have to." Greg snapped, turning to his superior. "For Sara, if nothing else." Nick blinked.

"You're telling me that you're alright with them working together?"

"No, but if it's what Sara needs to do to get over what happened then she needs our support." Greggo explained. "She doesn't need us flying off the handle."

Nick, still unconvinced, didn't offer an answer. But her couldn't help wondering when his goofy young friend had become so grown-up.

X x x

"I'll take the perimeter." Sara said bluntly before she was even out of the car. Warrick instantly sprang to his feet.

"Me too." He went to grab his kit from the trunk.

"No." Catherine barked, stopping him short. "You come with me." He watched Sara disappear around the back of the house with a frown, but did as he was asked and followed Catherine inside.

"So, how long is this hate campaign going to last?" He queried, shuffling around the lounge behind his supervisor. She cast a glance over her shoulder at him, before fixing her gaze back on the path her torch was taking around the room.

"We trusted you alone with her before. Look what happened then."

"Cath…" He started but she stopped him.

"Do you think she wants to be alone with you right now?" She asked, doing her best to keep her temper in check. "Just give her some space, it's what she wants."

"Yeah I know." He huffed, pulling out his torch and making an effort to look for evidence too. "I just wasn't expecting the whole lab to have demonised me." Catherine sighed, realising that she wasn't going to get any work done until this discussion was had.

"Warrick, you have to understand … Sara's our friend."

"I thought I was your friend too." He mumbled in a hurt voice.

"You were." Cath nodded nostalgically. "But you hurt her, Rick. And in the worst possible way."

"Cath…" He started but once again she cut him off.

"I didn't want to believe it." She hummed sadly. "But I don't have a choice."

"I don't want to believe it either." Warrick said, attempted to keep his emotions in check. "I still don't know what happened that night. I just want to make it up to her."

Catherine sighed, pursing her lips. "Well, it's going to take more than a few nice words." She pointed out. "She needs to learn how to trust you again."

"How?" He asked eagerly, finally glad to have a starting point. Catherine just shook her head, bringing his sudden burst of hope crashing back down.

"To be honest I don't know if she ever will."

**x x x x**

**Thoughts?**


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey." Warrick groaned, shuffling into the room. Nick didn't even look up from pouring his coffee as he answered coldly.

"You haven't got the hint yet then."

"What are you talking about?" Warrick blinked, glancing around the room; perhaps looking for someone to back him up. They were alone.

Nick slammed the coffee pot down and turned to his former friend.

"No one wants you here, Rick." He pointed out bluntly.

"Sara does." Warrick retorted coolly, flexing his knuckles in an attempt to reign in his temper.

"Does she?" Nick asked, quirking an eyebrow. "She only said you could come back because she didn't want to break up the team! She doesn't want to be anywhere near you, she's just being typical Sara and putting on a brave face." He snapped. "Why don't you just save her the trouble and get lost!"

"You know what…?" Warrick hissed, pointing a finger at the Texan.

"What? What are you going to do?" Nick goaded, strutting towards him. "Are you going to hit me? Are you going to do to me what you did to her?" He shoved Warrick back, getting up in his face. "Go on, Rick? Hit me."

Warrick clenched his fists at his side, biting his lip to prevent him from saying all the words that were burning on the tip of his tongue. As Nick's lips twitched into a smirk, Rick swallowed his rage, spun on his heels and headed to the door. He almost mowed Greg down in his hurry to leave and had to dodge around him when the smaller man refused to move out of the doorway.

Once he was out of sight, heading outside to cool off, Greg looked at Nick who remained in the centre of the room wearing a dark look.

"I've missed something, haven't I?" He frowned.

X x x

Warrick puffed frantically on his cigarette, pacing in circles at the bottom of the front steps. He shuffled his feet along the ground, watching the cloud of dust he was kicking up as he did.

"This looks productive." A voice hummed from the front doors. Warrick lifted his head slowly, meeting the disapproving stare of Grissom.

"I needed some fresh air." He mumbled, realising the irony of his words as he waved the cigarette around. Grissom just raised an eyebrow.

"You're still on probation Warrick." He pointed out. "Maybe your time could be used more wisely…"

Warrick watched him shuffle back inside, clenching his teeth as he ground the cigarette out beneath his boot.

X x x

"I know." He moaned, wiping a hand over his face.

"_You knew it was going to be difficult going back."_ His counsellor continued in that same patronising voice that drove Warrick up the wall. _"If you want to get your life back on track you're going to have to do exactly as you're asked at work and take no liberties." _

"I know." He repeated through gritted teeth. "I just wish he'd pack it in with the stupid comments. I know how he feels."

"_He's standing up for his friend_." Brian continued calmly, either ignorant or indifferent to Warrick's frustrations. _"You just need to prove to him that you're not a threat to your victim anymore."_

"Her name is Sara." He muttered under his breath. Brian cleared his throat, demonstrating his irritation at his bad mood. Warrick sighed. "Alright, so how do I prove it to him?" He asked, running a hand through his springy hair.

"_Only you can answer that, Warrick."_ Brian said cryptically. _"They were your friends. You need to figure out how to fix this."_

"Yeah thanks." He muttered, hanging up before adding, "for nothing." He slipped the phone back into his pocket and began to pace again. On his third turn around the room he noticed someone else appear in the door.

They shared a moment of stunned silence, neither knowing what to say, before she made to leave.

"Wait!" He finally found his voice and cleared the bench to land in front of her. "Wait a second; I want to talk to you."

"Not now." She mumbled, turning her back to him in an attempt to escape the other way.

"No." He continued, grabbing her arm. "It'll only take a minute." Unfortunately, as soon as he touched her she flinched and tried to pull away.

"Get off me." She whimpered, yanking her arm firmly out of his grip.

"Sara, wait!"

She attempted to run but he was too fast for her.

Everything happened in a flash; he was barely aware of his own actions. Later he would blame it on the heat of the moment.

He grabbed her around the middle, yanking her back. She attempted to pull herself free but found herself firmly wrapped in his embrace. The more she resisted the tighter he held her as she tried to slink out from his grasp. Somehow in the struggle he ended up on his knees with her pinned against him. She threw her elbow backwards, slamming it into his chest. The movement winded him and she launched herself forwards in an attempt to get away. Recovering fast, he lunged onto her, pinning her on her back beneath his full weight.

"Hey, hey. Whoever I am, look at me." He held her firm, despite her desperately struggling. "Whoever I am, whatever I did. I'm sorry." Sara blinked up at him with tears in her terrified eyes. There was a scuffle by the door and suddenly Warrick was wrenched off of her.

"What the fuck, man!" Nick snarled, throwing him roughly against the locker doors. "What are you doing to her?"

"Get off me!" Warrick grunted, fighting the Texan.

"You sick bastard!" Nick continued, slamming him against the lockers again.

Catherine dropped to her knees beside a shell-shocked Sara while Grissom remained in the doorway, staring at the scene before him in shock.

"It's okay honey." Cath promised softly as she helped Sara sit back up. "It's alright." She looked up at Warrick, regret written across her face. "Get out of here, Rick." She said softly.

"Cath…" He mumbled.

"Get. Out." She repeated, looking away. Sara had curled herself against the lockers, her breathing ragged and unsteady. Having been released by Nick, albeit reluctantly, Warrick looked between the disappointed faces of his former allies, finally settling on Sara's fragile body racked with tears. He met Grissom's stony expression, reading the silence behind it quite clearly. Getting the message he ducked his head, sloping out of the room.

"You're going to be alright, Sar." Nick promised, kneeling down on the other side of her. Cath was rubbing small circles on her back, attempting to calm her erratic breathing down. They shared a sad look over her head.

"I'll take her home." Catherine stated, pushing herself up to collect their things from the lockers. Nick remained crouched on the floor with Sara. He planted a kiss on her head, throwing an arm around her trembling shoulders.

"We've got you honey, you're okay." He mumbled against her hair, tugging her tighter. He felt her cuddle against him, nestling her head into the crook of his neck. Despite the gravity of the situation he couldn't help releasing a relieved breath at having her in his arms. He couldn't do what he really wanted to do to Warrick, but he could protect his girl.

X x x

"Sara, honey, it's Catherine." She pleaded, leaning heavily against the door. "Please open the door hon, I just want to talk to you." She could hear movement inside so she knew that Sara was there; she was just ignoring her. "Sara I know you're scared sweetie but I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help. Please let me in … there's no one else here I promise." She added as an afterthought. After a second she heard cautious footsteps approach the door, unbolt it and retreat.

Catherine slowly slid through the door and closed it behind her. Sara was nowhere in sight, but in the ten hours since Cath had left her, Sara had made one hell of a mess of her apartment. She stepped over a bag and into Sara's bedroom, where the brunette was haphazardly throwing clothes into a case.

"Sara, honey?" the brunette jumped at the hand on her back, staring at Catherine in surprise, as if she'd forgotten that she'd just let her in. "What are you doing?" Cath asked, gesturing to the mass of half-packed things scattered around the small apartment.

"Leaving." Sara mumbled, returning to her task at hand. Catherine's eyes widened.

"Why?" she squeaked.

"I can't go back to work." Sara continued. "I can't stay here anymore."

"Where … where will you go?" Catherine stilled her hands, getting her full attention.

"California."

"You can't leave!" The blonde barked instinctively. She realised her mistake when Sara jumped at her outburst. She held up her hands in defence. "You can't run away from this." She said in a calmer voice.

"I can't handle it anymore, Cat." Sara said, tears springing to her eyes. Cath cleared some space on the cluttered bed and tugged Sara down beside her.

"I know that what happened today scared you." She started, holding her friend's hand. "But we're going to deal with that. And I promise, he won't hurt you."

"It's not that; I just can't face him every day." Sara said tearfully. "I need to get away for a while."

"What you need is your family around you." Cath assured her. "Please, don't leave."

Sara looked down, and Catherine couldn't help thinking that the young woman's silence meant her fears were not unfounded: if Sara went to California, she wasn't coming back. Aside from the implications this could have for Sara's recovery, Cath wasn't sure she could handle her best friend leaving. She glanced around the small room, desperately thinking for a solution that didn't end in Sara running away.

"Come home with me." She begged suddenly, searching her face with pleading eyes.

"What?" Sara squeaked.

"Come back with me, just for a night." Cath continued, shuffling closer. "We can talk, and if you really want to go then you can."

Sara blinked at her dubiously.

"Just one night?" She repeated cautiously.

"That's all I ask." Catherine assured her. Hopefully, it was all she would need.

X x x

Warrick dropped heavily onto his bed, releasing a tired sigh. Needless to say, today had not gone as planned.

He buried his head in his hands. He just couldn't believe he had lost him temper like that with her … he'd just wanted to talk to her.

It was probably safe to say that no one would believe he was innocent now.

Kicking off his boots, he leant over to set his alarm clock for the next shift, already dreading it. Something down the side of his bed caught the light, glinting at him. With a puzzled frown he reached down, fumbling through the dust to find the elusive object.

His fingers wrapped around something cold and flexible. He pulled it out, blowing some of the residue dust bunnies off it.

It was Sara's watch.

Somewhere in the depths of his memories, he recalled struggling with the girl; holding her down by the wrists. She'd fought back, fiercely. And as a result … he'd ripped her watch off.

He turned the item over in his hands. The catch was broken, where it had been wrenched free from her slender wrist. And, more damningly, there was a small amount of blood on the silver band.

The watch hit the floor with a dull thud, a sound disturbingly familiar to him, as his hand flew to his mouth and his empty stomach lurched.


	18. Chapter 18

**Shorter than usual, but I hope the end makes up for that ;)**

**x x x x**

"Alright, thanks Cath." Grissom breathed, his face visibly relaxing. "Call me if there's anything we can do." He snapped his phone shut and slipped it back into his pocket, turning to face the expectant boys lingering behind him. "Catherine found her, she was at home."

"Is she alright?" Greg asked swiftly, finally moving from the spot he'd been rooted to since Sara had failed to turn up at work.

"She's fine; Cath's taking her back to her house for the night." Gil explained, sorting through the cases for the night now that the drama was averted.

"Man, I can't believe Warrick." Nick hissed, slamming his hand on the bench.

"Where is Warrick?" Ecklie piped up from the doorway where he had apparently been lurking.

"I don't know." Grissom brooded. "Catherine found Sara though, she's okay."

"I heard." The boss nodded, pursing his lips. "Let me know when you find Brown. I need to talk to him."

"Not if I find him first." Nick muttered angrily under his breath.

"Leave it to us Nicky." Grissom warned, handing him a folder. The Texan offered a sweet smile that disguised the black look in his eyes.

X x x

The cheerful sounds drowned into a blur along with the rest of the world as he sipped his drink and stared at the scarred wood in front of him. He couldn't remember how long he'd been sat there, staring at the same spot.

He sensed someone sit down beside him and turned his gaze slightly. His heart sank when he found himself blinking hazily at a pair of disappointed blue eyes.

"Rehabs going well I take it?" Grissom asked sarcastically, noting the tumbler in Warrick's hands and the aromatic cloud of whiskey and cigarette smoke surrounding him.

"Leave me alone." Warrick groused, hunching his shoulders further over the bar. The casino echoed with shrieks of glee and chimes of riches but judging by Warrick's despondent face lady luck had not done anything to improve his mood.

"I gave you another chance." Gil said. To Warrick's dismay, he didn't sound angry or upset; just let down. "_Sara_ gave you another chance. And you blew it." In a slow calculated move, Warrick lifted the glass to his lips, taking a long sip before returning it to the bar. Grissom watched him carefully, narrowing his cold eyes at his colleague's sullen silence. "Well?"

"Well what?" Warrick sulked.

"Do you have anything to say?" Warrick looked up slowly, finally meeting Grissom's gaze. Without speaking he pulled something out of his pocket, tossing it onto the bar. It landed with a dull clatter.

Gil blinked at the watch in bewilderment.

"It's Sara's." He explained. "I found it in my apartment."

"Okay." Gil nodded, still not following until Warrick turned it over to show the broken latch where he had wrenched it from her wrist.

"I did it, Gil." He mumbled despondently, his voice cracking with emotion. "I raped her."

X x x

"I'm sorry I vanished." Sara mumbled, accepting the mug of steaming coffee offered to her. Catherine lowered herself onto the couch beside her, careful not to crowd her.

"It's okay; I know you're going through a lot." She promised, scrutinising the brunette closely. "Just, don't go disappearing on me. If there's something wrong then talk to us first."

"I will." Sara mumbled, "I just panicked."

"I know." Cath nodded sympathetically, inching closer to the girl. "We're going to fix it. I don't know how but we'll find a way."

They fell silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. To Catherine's surprise, Sara was the first to speak again.

"I'm just scared that every time someone's close to me I'll panic and pull away." She mumbled.

"Oh honey," Catherine whispered, pulling Sara closer to her. The younger woman rested her head on Cath's shoulder and released a sigh.

"It's happened before." She pointed out sadly. "What if I can't trust people again?" Catherine pursed her lips.

"Baby, I know you were let down when you were younger and it's understandable that you struggled to trust people." She assured her softly. "But things are different now: you've learnt to trust people before, you can do it again."

"What if I can't?" Sara asked tearfully, wiping in vain at her eyes.

"You trust me?" Cat asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Of course." She shrugged blasé. A small smile twitched at Catherine's lips.

"Close your eyes." Sara frowned but did as she was asked. Suddenly she felt a pair of soft lips on her own. The kiss was chaste, gentle but Sara was almost disappointed when it was over. She blinked her eyes open, confusion dancing across her features.

"What was that for?" she asked hoarsely.

"Doesn't matter." Cath smiled, stroking her cheek gently. "The point is you trusted me to do it."

"What if you're the only person I can trust?" She asked tentatively. Catherine inched closer, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Well then," she mumbled sweetly against her ear. "You'll just have to stay with me, won't you?"


	19. Chapter 19

She knew it was late, or early, because it was still dark. She rolled over, scanning for the noise that had awoken her. She was about to shrug it off and go back to sleep when she heard it again: a soft rapping at her bedroom door.

The door creaked open and a pair of dark eyes peeped around the edge.

"Sara babe, what's wrong?" Catherine groaned, stiffly pushing herself into a seated position.

"I'm sorry; I didn't want to wake you." Sara mumbled apologetically, lurking in the doorway.

"It's okay honey," Cath promised, slightly more awake now. "Something you want to talk about?" Sara shrugged, inching into the dim room. Cath shuffled into the centre of the bed and tugged the covers aside, beckoning for her to come over. Sara followed the hint and perched on the edge of the bed but Catherine wasn't going to settle for that and tugged her closer, wrapping her into the covers. "Alright," she said at last when they were both cocooned warmly in the bed. "What's the matter?"

"I was just thinking about earlier …" Sara started tentatively, letting her body sink into the pillows propped up behind her. Cath nodded silently, letting the girl nestle against her.

"What about earlier?" She pressed when Sara didn't speak again.

"Well, I was thinking about … that kiss." Even in the darkness Catherine could see her blush.

"Hmm?" She probed, smiling to herself. Sara cleared her throat softly, trying to pull some confidence from somewhere.

"What did it mean?" She asked at last. Cath pursed her lips.

"What do you think it means?" She countered.

"I don't know." Sara blinked. "That's why I'm asking." Catherine chuckled softly at the perplexed voice.

"Oh honey," she murmured. "It just means that I care about you." She pressed a kiss to Sara's cheek, letting her lips linger on the flushed skin for a moment longer than necessary. "I love you." She mumbled, before finally pulling back.

"Oh." Sara frowned, unable or unsure of how to respond to that.

"Don't try to read too much into things Sar; I just wanted to show you that you can trust some people. You just need to make sure you trust the right ones." Without waiting for a response, Cath lay back down and tugged Sara with her. She waited until the brunette stopped squirming in her embrace and let her eyes drift closed again.

She could feel Sara's breathing, shallow and cautious at first slowly starting to even out as she finally sank into a peaceful sleep.

X x x

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Grissom asked at last.

They had left the casino in silence and had been wandering absently up and down beneath the gaudy lights of the Strip ever since. Warrick sighed at the question posed to him, rubbing a worn hand over his tired face.

"I don't know; I still can't get my head around it." He scowled. "I mean, I remember some of it now but … it just doesn't feel like it was me. It's like I'm watching someone else do it."

"I don't think that's going to make a difference to Sara." Grissom pointed out unhelpfully. "You know that she's not just going to trust you again because you explain it to her."

"I know." He sulked, resisting the urge to snap at his boss for stating the obvious.

"And wrestling her to the floor against her will is not going to help matters, either" Gil added pointedly. Warrick choked out a dry laugh.

"Yeah, that. I don't know what happened there, I just lost it." He murmured.

"That seems to be happening a lot lately."

"Yeah, I'm … I'm dealing with it." Warrick threw up his hands, tired of uttering those same words.

"Just make sure you keep dealing with it." Grissom hummed. "Rehab, counselling, AA – I know it goes against your nature but it's the only way you can prove that you mean what you say."

"I do." Warrick growled purposefully.

X x x

Nick pushed his way into the morgue, uttering a half-assed greeting.

"I heard what happened." The coroner said without looking up. "How's Sara?"

"She's alright. Catherine took her back to her house." Nick replied, almost surprised that the news had travelled to the basement already.

"Good." Al nodded, genuinely happy to hear that. "Catherine will take care of her: they make a good pair."

Nick nodded in agreement, then paused as the words registered. A frown crossed his features but before he could ask for elaboration as to what he meant, David bustled in.

"Hey Nick." He greeted. "How's Sara doing?"

"She's fine." He repeated. "I've lost count of how many times I've heard that question in the last few weeks though."

"Yeah, she's been through a lot." Super Dave agreed sadly, leaning casually against a sheet-covered gurney. "But she's tough. She'll be alright."

"She has to be." Al added fondly. "She's our girl." Nick smiled at the warm twinge in the coroner's voice. It wasn't often he showed genuine care for someone, working with the dead and all, but when he did it was touching.

"Yeah, she's a tough cookie. And she has us." He patted his currently empty holster where his gun was usually affixed. "And we know what happens when people hurt our girl."

X x x

The front door opened and closed with a familiar click. Catherine knowingly counted the seconds until the kitchen door swung open and a pair of boots clicked across the lino floor.

"You're up early." Nancy commented, throwing herself into a seat opposite her big sister.

"And yet you're still in my house." Catherine added dryly, not even bothering to tear her eyes from her paper to check the time.

"I was working night shift. Mom called and said you were home tonight."

"Did she now?" Cath nodded disinterestedly, idly flicking through the pages. She could feel her sibling's eyes watching her every move carefully, biding her time.

"So, how's Sara?" The nurse asked at last, breaking the awkward silence.

"Asleep." Cath answered, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"No reason." Nancy shrugged, reaching out to toy with a piece of junk mail nervously. "I was just curious." Cath pushed her newspaper aside and fixed her sister with an impatient look.

"What d you want, Nance?" She asked. The younger blonde smiled impishly.

"Well, since you've asked. I was wondering what's going on with you two."

"Nothings 'going on'." Cath snapped, standing up to refill her mug of coffee.

"Come on Cathy." Nancy teased, joining her by the counter. "I know you and I know that look. You've got a thing for her." She nudged her playfully. Cath sent her a dirty look.

"She was raped Nancy." The CSI pointed out bluntly. "Nothing's going to happen."

"Maybe not yet." Nance agreed, wandering over to the fridge and rifling through the contents, eventually helping herself to some yoghurt – despite Cath's irritated glower at her actions– and dropping back into a seat at the table. "But you want something to happen… right?" She asked around a mouthful of food.

Again, Catherine didn't answer but her sister recognised the guilty look on her face instantly.

"See, you want her." She clapped gleefully.

"Shush!" Catherine hissed, grabbing her wrist. "She's still asleep." Nancy dropped her hands with an apologetic look.

"Does mom know?"

"Know what?" Cath asked sullenly, slinking into a chair. At Nancy's look she rolled her eyes. "No, mom doesn't know that I have a crush on my female colleague. And I want it to stay that way." She added pointedly. Nancy held up her hands defensively.

"I won't say anything." She promised, scooping another spoonful of yoghurt into her mouth. "But you should. She'll suss it out eventually if you don't."

"Yeah." Cath sighed, resting her chin in her hands despondently. "I'm screwed either way."

"Pretty much." Nancy agreed jovially, wiping her fingertip around the edge of the now-empty yoghurt pot. "But you never did pick the easy option in life."

"No." Catherine droned. "I think I remember when that started."

"Yeah." Nancy asked, intrigued.

"The day I asked for a little sister." She snatched the yoghurt pot back. Nancy grinned at her, not in the slightest offended and playfully chirped:

"Yeah, but then who would keep all your dirty little secrets?"


	20. Chapter 20

"Uh, hey." Warrick cleared his throat, edging into the locker room. Nick paused in the middle of changing his shirt long enough to throw him a dirty look; but before he could begin to throw words as well the dark-skinned CSI continued in a hesitant voice. "I wanted to ask you two a favour."

Greg sent Nick a curious look, but the Texan's expression was nothing more than pissed off.

"If you've come to beg for forgiveness, take it elsewhere." He snapped, turning away to button up his shirt.

"I haven't." Warrick laughed dryly. "I came to ask you out for breakfast."

"Why?" Greg asked, scrunching up his nose. Rick pursed his lips.

"I have something I need to talk to you about." He replied cryptically.

"Yeah, well we don't have anything to say to you." Nick retorted coolly. "Come on Greggo." His attempt to barge passed Warrick failed as the taller man lightly grabbed his sleeve. Nick glowered at the offending hand.

"You don't have to stay: I just have something I need to tell you in person and then you can do what you want." He insisted, calmly but firmly.

Nick and Greg, who hadn't moved from his previous spot, exchanged a look. Eventually, Greg offered a small shrug and a nod. Warrick's lips twitching into a grateful smile.

It was a start.

X x x

"Alright," Nick asked around a mouthful of bacon. "You've got us here, so what's the deal?"

Greg, who had decided that he wasn't hungry but was now eyeing up Nick's breakfast, met Warrick's green eyes with badly disguised curiosity.

Rick took a deep breath. He'd been planning this all morning but now the words were evading him.

"I know what I did to Sara, and I know that no matter what I do I can never make it up to her." He cleared his throat, trying to draw to memory the speech he'd created. "But it isn't going to stop me from trying. I'm going to do everything in my power to earn her trust back. And yours. And I just wanted you to know that." He let his gaze fall to his lap as he finished his heartfelt schpiel.

"You think that makes it all better?" Nick spat, his food all but forgotten.

"No, that's my point." Warrick explained calmly. "I know that nothing I can say will make it better. But I wanted you to understand that I know what I did wrong. And I'm not going to try to deny it anymore. I'm willing to accept to consequences of my actions." He paused, searching their faces and finally settling on Greg's dark gaze. "Even if it means I lose everyone I need."

X x x

Catherine stretched en route to the front door. For most people it would be considered early for visitors, but with the hours they worked it was not uncommon for her colleagues to come by at this time.

Swinging the door open, she blinked at her guest in surprise.

Well, he was still a colleague she supposed.

"I heard Sara was here." Warrick explained nervously, fidgeting on the front step. "Can I see her?"

"Why?" Catherine challenged suspiciously.

"I just want to talk to her." Catherine opened her mouth to reply but a quiet voice from inside the house beat her to it.

"It's okay." Sara mumbled shyly from the bottom of the stairs. "I'll talk to him." Catherine sent her an uncertain look over her shoulder but let the man in all the same.

"I'll be in the kitchen." She muttered to Sara as she walked passed her, sending Warrick a warning glare as she disappeared into the next room. Alone, Sara stuffed her hands into her pockets and shuffled awkwardly on the spot.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asked nervously. Warrick gestured uncertainly to the couch. Though she made a point of sitting at the opposite end of the couch, he felt it was at least step forward and made sure to keep the distance for her sake.

"The last thing I want to do is to bring up any memories for you," he started softly, resisting the urge to reach out and take her hand. "But, some of that night has come back to me; I don't remember everything, but I remember enough."

"Okay." Sara nodded slowly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know that I am sorry. And I know that doesn't fix anything, but I am going to do everything I can to make it up to you." He instinctively reached out but reluctantly pulled his hand back when Sara flinched at his actions. "I know it'll take time, and I'm willing to wait."

"Okay." She said again, offering a small shrug. "I don't really know what you want me to say."

"I don't want anything from you." He promised. "I just wanted you to know that and … and to know that I'm sorry." He stood up, brushing himself down. He'd wanted to look like he was sorting himself out, but in retrospect the suit may have been too much. "Tell Catherine thanks for letting me in." He gestured in the general direction of the kitchen before ducking his head and letting himself out.

Catherine, lingering in the kitchen doorway, watched him go before addressing Sara.

"You okay?"

"Yeah … yeah I'm fine." Sara said softly, even managing a small smile. "It's a start, right?"

X x x

He was sure he'd missed something.

Gil Grissom was not usually perceptive to such things, but in light of recent events he'd made the effort to become more attentive to the mood of his people. And the mood had definitely shifted.

He felt it as soon as he walked into the break room. No one was talking, not uncommon at the moment, but there was a distinct lack of tension in the air.

And the final clue came when Nick, the formally angry and vengeful Nick Stokes, offered Warrick a cup of coffee.

He didn't know quite what he'd missed, but if this was the result then he didn't really care.

As he cleared his throat and glanced down at the folders in his hand, he considered trying his luck.

Could Nick's new leaf carry through to working with Warrick on a case? He pursed his lips, deciding to let fate answer that question.

"Alright, boys …"

**x x x x**

**Ooh :) Let me know what you think x**


	21. Chapter 21

Brass thought he'd seen it all on his ill-fated trip to Honduras, but he was to be proven wrong that night. He had to check his eyes weren't deceiving him when Warrick and Nick strolled up the driveway side by side. Surely Grissom wouldn't …

"What have we got?" Nick asked, the picture of professionalism, as the pair reached the surprised detective.

"Uh, two dead." He mumbled, gesturing awkwardly to the modern two-story house behind them. "Husband's in the office, wife in the bedroom. Looks like a murder suicide."

"Alright," Nick nodded, taking off his sunglasses and turning to his partner. "You want the husband or the wife?"

"I'll take the husband." Warrick said, nodding politely at Jim as he shuffled into the house with his kit swinging at his side.

"Hey Nicky," Jim held the younger man back for a moment. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah." Nick shrugged, tucking his sunglasses into his top pocket. "Why wouldn't it be?"

X x x

Having dealt with the deceased couple, the CSIs had moved into the open-plan living area. For several minute neither spoke, each focussed on their individual tasks on opposite sides of the room.

"So, you spoke to Sara?" Nick broached the pink elephant at last, daring a glance across the room.

"Yeah, yeah I did." Warrick nodded. He chose not to elaborate in case he said the wrong thing; lord knows he was getting good at that at the moment.

"She okay?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"I think so." Warrick mumbled. "I didn't stay long; I just wanted her to hear me say it." Again, he neglected to elaborate.

"Cath would've kicked you out anyway." Nick commented dryly. "She's gotten pretty overprotective."

"Yeah?" Warrick chuckled. "Well, she's always had a soft spot for her, even if she hid it well." His offhand comment piqued Nick's curiosity and the Texan turned to him, fingerprint brush in hand.

"You think?" He asked, intrigued.

"Oh yeah; don't you remember when Grissom's 'experiment' backfired and gave her an electric shock? Practically threw the girl across the lab!"

"Yeah, Cath took her to Desert Palms to get her head scanned – against Sara's will if I recollect – and then took her home." Nick recalled with a frown as to the point in this story.

"Yeah, and then she came back to tear Griss a new one." Warrick added, a cheeky grin dancing on his lips at the memory.

"No…" Nick hummed, turning to his colleague. "Seriously?"

"Hell yeah." Warrick nodded. "Man, I thought she was going to slap him. I believe her exact words to him were 'hurt her again and you'll be sharing a cave with Elvis'."

"Man, how'd I miss that?" Nick chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. Maybe Catherine had always been this overprotective, and he'd just never noticed.

They fell back into silence, albeit not an uncomfortable one. After a few minutes, Nick lifted his head again, watching Warrick work across the room from beneath his lashes. "Greg and I are going for breakfast after work." He mentioned slyly. "You could come … if you want to." He tried to sound nonchalant, casually raising his gaze to his colleague's. Warrick, however, made no such effort as he jumped at the meek offer.

"Sure, I'd love to." He nodded. He instinctively began to ask if the girls were coming, but caught himself before he put his foot in it. Probably best not to try his luck too soon.

From his quiet spot in the doorway, Brass shook his head in bafflement at the sudden civility between the boys.

X x x

"Thanks Mandy." Warrick nodded gratefully as he turned to leave her lab, accidently finding himself colliding with Sara as she wandered in.

"Whoa, sorry." He gripped her arms lightly, steadying her.

"Sorry." She mumbled a shy apology. He offered a small smile and stepped aside, letting her pass into the fingerprint lab where Mandy was watching them with a suspicious raised eyebrow.

"You alright?" She asked once Warrick had vanished into the bustling hallway.

"Yeah." Sara cleared her throat, gesturing to the computer. "You, uh, get a match?"

"Yeah." Mandy turned to the screen, albeit with one eye still trained on her colleague. "The print matched a work card of a casino employee," she handed Sara the printout, scrutinising the brunette as her dark eyes scanned the piece of paper.

"Thank you." Sara smiled, making to leave.

"Sara!" She called out impulsively, causing the girl to turn back with a puzzled expression. Not quite sure herself why she'd called her back, Mandy hunted for something to say. "I just wanted to say, I think you're handling everything really well." The lab rat said sheepishly. Sara nodded, a light blush tinting her cheeks.

"Thanks Mandy." She mumbled, offering a genuine smile.

The lab tech watched her go with a fond smile.

X x x

"Have you told her yet?"

Catherine turned to Nancy with a frustrated glare.

"Take a guess." She snapped sarcastically. Nancy's gaze softened over her mug of coffee.

"Well you need to tell her the truth sometime. You can't keep harbouring a secret crush on her forever."

"Shush!" Cath hissed, casting a cautious glance over her shoulder. "Look, Sara's just getting back on her feet; she doesn't need this right now."

"What if she feels the same?" Cath scoffed at the suggestion but Nancy was persistent. "I'm serious; what if a strong, healthy relationship is what she needs and you're just pushing her away."

"I'm her supervisor Nance. Anyway, I'm hardly pushed her away. The girl's practically been living with me." Catherine pointed out.

"Yeah, and you've loved every minute of it." Nance taunted, nudging her in the ribs. "You don't want her to go, why else would you have begged her to stay another night?"

"What I want doesn't matter." The older woman insisted. "I want what's best for Sara, and right now _that_ isn't it."

"Alright. If you're sure." Nancy shrugged. "I'm just saying that sooner or later you're going to have to tell her."

"Tell me what?"

Catherine jumped to face the source of the inquisitive voice, plastering a false smile on her face.

"Sara, I didn't know you were up."

"Clearly." The brunette nodded politely at Nancy. "What haven't you told me?"

"Oh, nothing." The blonde CSI tried to shrug it off but her efforts fell flat. "Just … stuff." Sara quirked an eyebrow curiously.

"I heard my name."

"You were right, she is good." Nancy joked, taking a sip of her drink. Catherine turned to her little sister, biting her tongue against the words dying to escape.

X x x

"Out, now." She hushed, ushering her sister to the door despite her firm protestations.

"But I haven't finished my coffee…" the nurse whined, clamouring to get back inside.

"I'll save it for you." Cath mocked, finally managing to get her outside. "And again, thank you for coming." She added with a sarcastic tone.

"You're welcome." Nancy grinned with a sweet smile before the door was slammed shut. Catherine turned, leaning against it as a relieved look crossed her face. However, it may have been premature. Sara was lurking by the stairs with one eye raised.

"What don't I know?"

Taking a deep breath, Catherine pursed her lips at her predicament. She took Sara's hand and led her to the couch.

"How much did you hear?" She asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"You saying something isn't what I need." Cath inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't heard anything incriminating.

"Okay. Nancy knows me better than anyone," she started, trying to think on her feet. "And she found something out about me. But it's nothing for you to worry about; it's just her offering her opinion where it's not wanted."

"You were talking about me." Sara pointed out dryly. Cath laughed softly, pursing her lips.

"Alright, you really want to know?" Sara nodded, an adorable frown on her face. As she had done a few days earlier, Catherine leant in and pressed her lips to Sara's. But unlike a few days ago, this kiss was anything but chaste.

A hand tangled itself in her dark tresses and she felt the blonde's teeth scrape her lower lip, gently asking for permission. Sara, blindsided by the action, pulled away and blinked at Cath in astonishment.

The older woman didn't look surprised by reaction. A sad sigh escaped her lips and she let her fingertips stroke Sara's cheek gently before pushing herself off the couch.

"That's what I was afraid of." She mumbled dejectedly.

Sara remained rooted to the stop, confusion written across her features.


	22. Chapter 22

**My regular readers may have guessed by the long gaps between updates that this story is nearing the end. Thanks for the reviews so far, you've all been great. And I shall try to get the last couple of chapters up sooner. **

**KC x**

**x x x x**

The boys exchanged silent glances of confusion as the girls shuffled in quietly that night. Neither said a word as they smiled politely and shrugged out of their jackets.

"So, looks like it could be a quiet night." Nick said, purely to break the silent tension that had fallen over the room. "I just saw Grissom sorting out his paperwork for the night so he must be on desk duty. Either that or he's got so backlogged that Ecklie's grounded him for the night." He continued his nervous rambling, casting pleading glances at the other men for assistance.

"Staff evaluations must be coming up." Warrick joined in, realising his colleague's discomfort. "I bet he's forgotten again."

"Yeah, and he'll be chained to the desk until he gets them done – isn't that right Cath?" Nick added, hoping to draw the blonde out of her silent reverie, staring forlornly at Sara's back.

"Yeah." She smiled sadly, offering a small shrug. "But one can dream, hey?" She closed her locker and slipped out, leaving the boys to frown at her cryptic answer. They turned in unison to Sara, hoping the younger woman could shed some light on the situation but she'd already disappeared into the hallway when no one was looking.

"I think we've missed something." Greg scowled at the empty spot in front of her locker.

X x x

"One of them is lying." Catherine sighed, flicking through the notes she'd gathered. Keen on avoiding the sympathetic looks of the boys and well aware of the fact that Sara was hiding from her, she had relocated herself to Grissom's office. Her boss, though doing his best to ignore her, had accepted the fact that she wasn't leaving anytime soon and settled for humming in response to her sporadic comments.

"People lie." He pointed out bluntly.

"Hmm." Cath nodded sullenly, flicking through the printouts in front of her. Grissom tore his gaze from his laptop, subtly scanning her face as she read.

"Is everything alright between you and Sara?" He queried slyly. Cath flicked her eyes up briefly before fixing her gaze back on the paperwork in her lap.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" she shrugged quietly, studiously avoiding eye contact. She felt him staring at her for what seemed like an age before exhaling loudly.

"No reason." He mumbled at last. "It just seems like she's avoiding you." Catherine pursed her lips, neglecting to answer. After a moment, he spoke again. "I'm just worried about you both."

She lifted her head, scrutinising him from beneath her eyelashes. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and settled for a small nod of gratitude instead. She didn't want to get into it right now, and especially not with Grissom, but it was comforting to know he was still there for her.

X x x

"So, you going back to Cath's tonight?" Nick asked as they both shrugged their coats on. Sara shook her head, quietly dropping her gaze to the floor. Nick picked up on her change in demeanour and tugged her arm, encouraging her to sit down on the bench. "Alright, what's wrong?" He asked knowingly.

"What?" Sara blinked at him. He laughed softly, shaking his head at her.

"C'mon Sar, I can read you like a book. What's happened?" She bit her lower lip, attempting to hide a smile.

"It's nothing for you to worry about." She tried, but he wasn't buying it. He narrowed his eyes in that boyishly charming way of his, nudging her playfully.

"Come on, spill." He encouraged gently.

"Alright," she conceded after a moment's deliberation. "But you can't mention this anyone else."

Nick frowned but nodded his consent all the same. Sara took a deep breath.

"Catherine kissed me."

Nick made no movement to indicate that he had heard the comment, other than his eyebrows shooting into his hairline.

"She … she what?" He stuttered, confused.

"Last night." Sara continued quietly, running a hand through her hair. "I … I just don't know what to do about it."

"Okay." Nick cleared his throat, struggling to think of something to say to comfort his friend. He reached out, wrapping a tentative arm around her shoulders. "Well, have you talked to her about it?"

"No." Sara pouted sadly. "I don't know what to say."

"Well, maybe you don't need to say anything." He suggested. "Just let her do the talking."

"I already know her side of it." Sara smiled weakly. "She made her point clear enough."

"Alright." Nick paused, chewing on his cheek in thought. "Okay, let's look at it differently." He posed, flexing his hands nervously. "How do you feel about her?"

"I don't know." Sara shrugged, almost as uncomfortable with this conversation as Nicky was. "I never thought about her like that before."

"Well, think about it." The Texan added unhelpfully, tugging her closer. She threw him a sarcastic smile, leaning into his embrace.

"Thanks Nick." She mumbled.

Catherine, lurking outside the room with a hand over her mouth to stifle her tears, disappeared down the hallway unseen.

X x x

Warrick rapped his knuckles softly on the door, waiting for the familiar murmured response. When it never came he poked his head into the office, almost expecting to find it empty.

It wasn't. Catherine was sat at her desk, the dimmed lights casting her into shadows but not quite hiding the tears that were streaming down her pale cheeks.

"Hey, hey, what's all this?" He asked, his green eyes widening as he came further into the room.

"Close the door." She mumbled, wiping in vain at her eyes. He instantly moved to oblige, although as his hand touched the frame, he flashed back to that fateful night. Was it such a good idea to put himself alone in a room with a female colleague? Glancing back at Catherine's slumped figure, he decided it was worth the risk for her sake and gently shut the door. As he moved back to the woman, he ensured to keep the desk between them at all times.

"What's wrong?" He repeated softly. She looked up, her red raw skin surrounding her damp blue eyes.

"I messed up." She mumbled sadly.

Warrick lowered himself into the seat opposite, folding his hands in his lap.

"Talk to me." He pressed sympathetically.

X x x

"You haven't done anything wrong." Warrick countered. Catherine scoffed disbelievingly.

"After everything she's been through, she's still getting back on her feet … and I just throw myself at her!"

"Come on, you didn't throw yourself at her." Rick continued firmly. "You said it yourself; you had to tell her because she knew that something was wrong."

"Yeah but I didn't have to kiss her!" The blonde continued, throwing her hands in the air despondently. "No wonder she's avoiding me."

"She's probably just confused." Warrick theorised. "You know Sara, she needs her own space to think. I'm sure she'll come around when she's had some time to mull it over."

As if summoned by his words, there was a soft knock at the door, interrupting Catherine before she had chance to dismiss his comments. A pair of dark eyes peeped around the edge of the door.

"Sara…" Cath squeaked, instantly trying to disguise her tears – somewhat unsuccessfully. Sara's gaze settled on Warrick and she retracted.

"Oh, sorry. I'll come back." She turned to leave but Warrick was already on his feet.

"No, it's okay. You stay." He sloped over to the door, offering Sara a small smile. "I think you're who she would rather see anyway." He added with a knowing wink.

He shut the door behind him, drowning the sounds of the lab into a blur. Sara shuffled awkwardly by the door, watching Catherine from across the room. The blonde was wiping at her eyes, attempting not to smudge her makeup in the process.

"I … I've been thinking about what happened." She cleared her throat as she tried to organise her thoughts. "I talked to Nick."

"Yeah, I know." Cath mumbled, her gaze fixed on the desk. Sara blinked at her in surprise. "I heard you." She admitted quietly.

"Oh." Sara hummed, dropping into the seat Warrick had vacated. "well, um, I've been thinking."

"And?" Cath pressed when she paused for longer than comfortable.

"And … I am not ready for anything yet." The brunette said, flexing her wrists anxiously. "One day, I hope, I will want a relationship … with somebody I trust. And right now, you're the only person I trust." Catherine lifted her gaze from the table, scanning Sara's face with confusion.

"What are you saying?" She frowned. Sara chewed on her lip.

"I'm saying, if you can wait…"

"I can wait." Cath jumped in before she could finish, almost leaving her seat in her eagerness. Sara smiled, trying not to laugh at her supervisor's enthusiasm.

"Okay." She nodded quietly. "Well, I should probably go." Catherine was out of her seat in a flash, skirting around the desk.

"Wait, um, I don't want you to think that I was trying to rush you." She explained hurriedly. "I just thought you deserved to know how I felt. I would never expect you to be ready for something like this after, well after everything that's happened."

"I know." Sara assured her, standing up. She hesitated a moment before deciding to take a chance and pressed a chaste kiss to Catherine's lips. "And thank you. For telling me."

Catherine watched her go with a bright smile, the dried tear tracks on her face long forgotten.

"You're welcome." She murmured to the empty room.


	23. Chapter 23

Sara fidgeted uneasily as she waited for Gil to finish whatever he was scribbling down. He'd been informed by Ecklie that, as the Grave supervisor, he had to carry out individual meetings with both Sara and Warrick to discuss the current situation.

When he finally finished doodling on the meeting document forms, he folded his arms across the desk, waiting patiently for Sara to start talking.

"I'm fine." She offered after a long moment of silence. He raised an eyebrow in his typical questioning way.

"Are you still seeing your therapist?"

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm going once a week at the moment."

"Good." He nodded, jotting that down. "And it's going okay, you're … dealing?"

"It's going fine." Sara tried to bite back a smile at her boss' ineloquence.

"What about work?" Grissom continued. "How's it been for you working with Warrick?" Sara pursed her lips.

"I don't know. I'd probably be able to answer that better if I'd worked with him more." She said, half-joking. Grissom looked up with a sarcastic eye-roll. Admittedly, he had made an effort to pair Sara with pretty much anyone but Warrick if at all possible. She smiled sweetly at him. "It's going fine, Warrick … I know that he's getting help. He's apologised for what he did."

"And you're okay with that?" He clarified with a frown.

"Well," Sara hummed in thought. "It's not that simple but yeah, I'm getting there."

"Alright." Grissom put his pen down and pushed the paper aside, fixing Sara with a slightly uncomfortable look. "And, what about relationships?"

Sara's eyes widened, giving him a startled look. As soon as he realised how it must have sounded to her he backtracked.

"I didn't mean me!" He blurted out hurriedly. "I just meant … in general." A coy smile spread across Sara's face.

"You don't need to worry about me." She assured him, attempting to swallow the laugh trying to bubble out of her. He narrowed his eyes at her, but accepted the answer and nodded.

"Well then, I guess that's everything." He shrugged. Sara was on her feet in a flash, already making a bee-line for the door.

X x x

"Alright, let's do this thing." Warrick groaned as he lowered himself into the chair opposite Grissom's desk. It had been a long, trying shift and he'd already been on his way out of the door when Griss reminded him about this scheduled meeting.

"This shouldn't take long." He assured his exhausted man. "I just need to check that you're still seeing your counsellor."

"Yeah. Twice a week." Warrick nodded.

"Mhmm. And how's that going?" Gil pressed.

"It's been interesting." Rick nodded slowly. "Apparently I have a lot of anger that I need to work through."

"You'll get there." Grissom assured him. "And what about work, how are you finding it."

"Better." Warrick hummed, sitting more upright. "I know there's still a long way to go, but I think I'm starting to find my footing again."

"Good." Grissom nodded, looking up from his notes. "Well, Sara is happy enough with the way things are going." Warrick's features visibly relaxed at those words; he had to admit he'd been wondering what the brunette had said in her session. "So, providing you keep up with everything, and you don't expect too much of her too soon … I don't see why we can't continue as things are."

"Great." Warrick stood up and stretched. "And hey, Gil, I just want to say thanks." Grissom frowned.

"For what?"

The dark-skinned man met his gaze solemnly. "For giving me another chance. I won't mess up again."

X x x

As a rule, drive-by shootings didn't require the whole team to turn out. But this was no ordinary shooting. And it was about to get a whole lot less ordinary.

Catherine, Nick and of course Brass had been assigned witness duty, while the rest of the team were bullet-hunting. Grissom and Warrick took the parking lot, which left Sara and Greg with the road.

"Alright, alright." Jim held up his hands to one particularly irate man who was a little too eager to leave. "Let's just back up a minute."

"I need to get out of here." The guy hissed, throwing his hands up. Jim could smell the whiskey on his breath from where he stood. "I already told you I don't know what happened."

"What happened is that your mate over there got pumped with lead." Nick jumped in, gesturing to the mangled corpse being wheeled towards David's van. "And you were in the car with him."

"Man, I told you I had nothing to do with that! I barely knew the guy." The young man whined. "I have to get out of here." He repeated, swaying slightly.

"You're not going anywhere." Brass warned him. "Why don't you have a seat and sober up, I'll get back to you." He turned away, waving a disregarding hand at his angry suspect. "Maybe it'll help your memory."

The guy dropped desolately onto the kerb, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I'm getting squat." Cath sighed exasperatedly. "How are we doing?"

"Well the guy over there seems in kinda a hurry to leave and I've got thirty other people who swear they didn't see or hear anything." The detective exhaled. "So…"

"What guy?" Cath interrupted, looking around him to where the drunk had previously been slumped. Brass frowned at the empty spot.

"Hey Jim, I found him." Nick hollered, pointing to the battered truck that had landed inelegantly on the wrong side of the road. They still didn't know why the limo had run them off the road, or why they were shooting at each other, but the truck had taken a fair beating.

Catherine, Nick and Jim watched in stunned horror from the sidewalk as the car snarled into action, full high beams drenching the blood-soaked road in light. They held their breath as the car launched into action, bounced off the kerb and span onto the road …

… where Sara and Greg were still working.

Both turned in unison at the noise and Sara instinctively shoved Greg aside, causing the young man to stumble and fall onto the sidewalk.

Catherine screamed at Sara to move, although if you asked her later she wouldn't remember it.

The brunette, however, was frozen on the spot and had nowhere to run to. Before she could make a decision as to which way to dart, she found herself hurled to the ground, pinned beneath a strong body.

The familiar scent of lemongrass and mint washed over her as she looked up into concerned green eyes.

The rest of the team remained rooted to the spot in shock as they watched the car – their evidence and key suspect – disappear down the road in a cloud of dust. Finally snapping out of it, they sprinted across the yard to where Warrick and Greg were helping Sara back to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Catherine rushed out, her hands already on the side of Sara's face as she scanned her for injuries.

"I'm fine." Sara mumbled, her gaze seeking out Warrick. Their eyes met and she offered a weak smile. "Thank you."

Relief flooded his features as he returned the gesture. Nick slapped him on the back.

"Well done, mate." He said, relief flooding his features and genuine gratitude in his voice. "Thank God."

Warrick just nodded modestly, choking out a breathless laugh when he caught sight of Sara's startled face as Catherine threw herself around the brunette like a leech.

**x x x x**

**Nearly finished x**


	24. Chapter 24

**Well, we have reached the end my friends. I hope you've enjoyed it, leave me a review to let me know what you thought**

**And thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, you're all awesome **

**KC**

**x x x x**

"You need to get checked out." Grissom frowned down at him. Greg rolled his sleeve back down, covering the graze on his arm from where he'd collided with the sidewalk.

"It's fine." He promised. "Just tell Sara to be a bit more gentle with me next time." He added playfully. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe next time I'll leave you in the road." She countered teasingly.

"There won't be a next time." Grissom said sternly, sending the pair of them warning glares.

"Oh hush, Gil." Catherine rolled her eyes, slamming her locker shut. "It's not their fault that the suspect wandered off and tried to mow them down."

"Even so." He huffed, placing his hands on his hips. "Your arm is still bleeding, you need to get it looked at." He scowled at Greg, who automatically opened his mouth to retort.

"It's…"

"It's not fine. I'm taking you to Doc Robbins." Before the young CSI could protest the boss had him in a fierce grip and was frogmarching him out of the room.

"Poor Greggo." Nick chuckled, not particularly sympathetic to the young man. As the group's laughter died down, Catherine turned to Sara with a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" She asked for what felt like the tenth time. Sara pursed her lips, biting back a sarcastic retort. Cath picked up on her growing frustration and held her hands up in apology. "Alright, you're fine." She stated dutifully. "But please call me if you need anything."

"I will." Sara promised, sharing an amused smile with Nick, who was finding it hard not to laugh at Catherine's mothering.

"Come on, she's not going to fall apart if you leave her." He reassured the blonde, placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her to the door. She wriggled free from his grip to double back and give Sara a tight hug before following the Texan out, sticking her tongue out petulantly at him on the way.

Sara and Warrick shared a chuckle at their respective best friends' antics, before a heavy silence fell across the room as they realised that they were the only ones left.

"So, Grissom said you're cool with leaving things as they are." Warrick filled the quiet at last. Sara looked up, offering a weak smile.

"Yeah." She whispered hoarsely. Warrick frowned at her across the locker room.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She mumbled. "I'm just thinking." There was a long moment of silence and he didn't think she was going to speak again, but she turned to him with a curious look in her eyes. "Have you been with anyone since … what happened?" She asked at last.

Warrick shook his head, taking a long, deep breath.

"No, I … I'm not sure I'm ready for that." He answered honestly. "Why'd you ask?"

"I don't know." Sara shrugged, toying anxiously with a loose thread on her sleeve. "As stupid as it sounds, it's easier to talk to you about it because, well you were there." She explained weakly, chancing a glance at his face. "You're kinda going through the same thing. The stigma, the uncertainty."

Warrick walked slowly over to the bench and sat down beside her, waiting for her to speak again.

"I feel scared all the time." He dropped his head guiltily but she shook her head. "No, not scared. Just … on edge." She corrected. "Like I daren't let anyone too close."

"You know, you're going to find someone." Warrick assured her softly. Sara choked out a laugh, rolling her eyes. "No, I'm serious." He continued. "Somewhere out there, there is someone who wants nothing more than to love you and take care of you; and they will never hurt you, because you're an amazing person, and you deserve to be loved." He patted her hand lightly and stood back up, wandering to his locker.

She cocked her head, considering his words. For most of her life that had been a pipe dream, and a damn unlikely one at that. But now she wasn't so sure. After all, if recent weeks had demonstrated nothing else, it had shown her just how many people loved and cared for her.

One person, in particular.

And for that, as strange as it may sound, she had Warrick to thank.

She pushed herself off the bench and walked slowly towards him. He must have sensed her behind him as he changed his dust-coated shirt because he turned, quirking an eyebrow at her. Without saying a word, she leant into his bare chest and wrapped her arms around him.

"Uh… okay" He looked down at her in shock, eventually responding to the hug. When she didn't pull away he pressed a kiss to her head, taking the chance to hold her for just a moment longer.

"Thank you." She mumbled, eventually stepping out of the embrace.

"For what?"

She walked to the door and turned, sending him an enigmatic smile.

"For everything."

He watched her go with a perplexed expression, the residual heat from her body still warming his chest.

X x x

"Cath! Cat!" The blonde turned, her key already in the car door, to see Sara running towards her.

"Hey, everything alright?" Catherine asked with concern, catching her by the arms.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." Sara assured her, running a hand through her hair nervously. "I was just wondering …" she paused, searching for the words. Catherine raised an eyebrow at her in questioning.

"What?" She pressed gently. Sara took a deep breath.

"I was wondering whether you would like to go to dinner … sometime. With me." She flicked her gaze up, offering a hopeful smile.

Catherine's jaw dropped, a surprised smile creeping across her lips.

"I'd love to." She grinned, leaning in to the brunette slightly. "Where's this come from?" Sara shrugged, a cryptic look dancing in her eyes.

"Someone said something that made me realise some things." She answered mysteriously, eliciting a frown from Catherine.

"Who?"

Sara bit her lip, casting a glance across the parking lot towards the only other lone occupant.

"A friend."

**~fin~**


End file.
